The Shadow Of A Flash
by ThatDudeCalledBob
Summary: The only thing Naruto hated more than the whispering behind his back was trying to live in his father's shadow. Sometimes, just sometimes, he wondered what life would be like if his father had sealed the Kyuubi instead of the Sandaime. AU. Minato lives. Quiet Naruto.
1. Prologue: My Flesh & Blood

**The Shadow Of A Flash**

_Chapter 1: My Flesh & Blood_

* * *

"It's done?"

"It is."

"Good." The way the word was spoken suggested the situation was far from the fact. A dark atmosphere seemed to smother the room and the two individuals inhabiting it. The man who had whispered the word snapped his neck up quickly, a decision seemingly made within the glittering eyes that were buried deep under his brow. He quickly walked toward the other man in the room and scattered paper everywhere as he did so. "And the sacrifice? It must be so?"

"It must." The voice from earlier returned. It reeked of youth which made the despair enshrouding it all the more potent. The man from which it had originated lifted a hand to his face and knocked some strands of blond hair out of his eyes absentmindedly. Deep blue orbs were hidden behind fingers for a moment before they returned and resumed their piercing stare upon the man in front of them.

"Then it is time." It was a haggard voice, wizened by age and distorted by such a long time of use. In a fleeting second the older of the two moved forward quickly with a palm raised.

"Hiruzen what are yo-" His voice stopped suddenly as the blond haired man was slapped to the face by the other, now named Hiruzen. A chakra-laced palm surged into his mind and he felt his body begin to shut down, "No! What have you done?!" He whispered harshly, too harshly if he was honest with himself. He felt his consciousness begin to slip and the room darkening around him.

Hiruzen did not reply to the blond haired man's question - in his mind the answer was obvious, "I'm sorry my child but you are too young. This is not your moment." The previous weakness in his voice had disappeared and was now replaced by a steely resolve. The man on the floor looked up in horror as the aged man spoke. His eyes began to flutter slightly and as he began to finally drift off he saw one last act from the other man; he walked over to a small basket that had been situated on a desk and picked up bundle out of it. He lost sight at that moment and as he fell into blissful sleep heard a sorrowful moan erupt in the room.

His son was crying.

* * *

"We have to tell him! We must." A voice pierced his thoughts and awakened him from his slumber. He tried to open his eyes wearily but they stubbornly refused his request.

"No. He won't handle it well and there are other, much more important matters to deal with." Another voice? Who were these people and why were they choosing to bother him so much? The second voice returned for a moment and seemed to add another final point to what he said, "The village comes first."

"Damn you Danzou! It's his family - he deserves to know!" The voices began to rise in distress. He had had enough. Trying to raise his hand to his eyes, he found he could hardly manage. That foolish old man had gone overboard. And with that the memories returned and he realised just what situation he had been left in. He tried to sit up quickly from what he assumed was a bed. Failing at that as well he instead only elicited a groan from his mouth.

"Hush you two. It seems the decision has been made for you." A third voice entered and the blond haired man almost felt the need to giggle at the sheer number of people disturbing him.

Instead he managed a strained, "Where am I?" He winced slightly at the pathetic sound that came out from his voice.

"Hokage-sama!" The first voice.

"Namikaze?" The second. He tried opening his eyes again and this time succeeded. A blurry visage of three figures was revealed and he blinked several times to adjust to the sight.

"What's going on?" Minato spoke slowly as he regained bearings. He knew he was in the hospital but that wasn't what he wanted to know about.

"We're in the hospital," the third voice announced - his advisor Homura - "You've been unconscious for two days."

Minato felt a surge of anger gather within him, "Not that! What has happened to the village?" He thought for a moment before adding, "And what of my family? What did you mean earlier?" His voice gained a shrill tone to it near the end and he forced himself to calm down.

Danzou interjected here, "Sarutobi knocked you out, as I'm sure you are aware, and proceeded to seal the Kyuubi as you had undoubtedly planned to do yourself. It was successful - we now hold power of the nine-tailed beast."

"Your son is fine Minato, he survived the sealing with no visible issues." Koharu interrupted Danzou's speech as she noticed the furious look overtake the sun-kissed man's face.

"We have lost approximately one third of our shinobi force and our Chuunin reserves have, in particular, taken a heavy toll. The village is relatively unharmed, Hiruzen got to the beast in time to prevent wide-scale destruction." Homura spoke slowly and his eyes began to moisten as he spoke of his now dead teammate. "He died a hero."

Minato took everything in silently, processing what he had been told. This wasn't how it was supposed to be - the old man should be where he was, not buried under six feet of dirt. Their forces were ruined - no doubt a major village would make a move on them sometime soon. As he pondered he remembered something suddenly, "Kushina, where is she?"

He looked at the three elderly shinobi in front of him desperately, hoping against all odds that his mind had pieced their argument together wrong.

Koharu spoke hesitantly, "Minato, she... She-"

"She is dead. Lost to the stress of the birth. I'm sorry." Danzou spoke with his usual coldness but a touch of something else could be heard in his tone. Something akin to sympathy.

Minato looked at the man in horror, "No! This is not how it was meant to happen!" Despair, sadness and guilt gripped him all at once and tore down his composure. As he began to lose control the three others in the room shifted uncomfortably - knowing the pain he was going through all too well. He felt a sob escape his mouth before he could prevent it and knew more would follow. Before they could he viciously grasped control of his emotions and tightened the grip.

He looked up at the three stonily, "Where is Naruto?"

"He's safe but first we must deal with-"

"Where is my son?!" He interrupted the war hawk quickly and mercilessly. The three elders looked at each other for a moment before they seemed to all come to a silent agreement.

"Jiraiya has him at your estate. He's been looking over him since the sealing." Homura's calm voice pierced the air. It seemed they were willing to let the village wait - for a moment.

Minato felt his strength return twofold and slipped out of the bed quickly. He was still dressed in the battle gear from two days ago. As he turned to leave the room Danzou spoke one final time.

"The world will not wait on you, Namikaze." He spoke with a drawl but his meaning was clear to Minato. You may have your time, but not much.

As he opened the door he grunted quietly, "Prepare for my return tomorrow. I will deal with everything then - and only then."

His son must come first.

For Kushina.

* * *

If Jiraiya were ever to say he had a bad day this would have to be it. His sensei was dead, his student inconsolable and his village heartbroken. Yes, this was certainly his worst day. As he stared at Minato cradling his son in his arms he silently wondered if the man would recover from his lose and by proxy whether the village would recover from the deep scar that had just been left upon it. He wasn't entirely sure.

A giggle escaped from the small bundle in his student's hands. It came from a small, almost identical copy of the man holding him. As the small baby innocently broke the silence a small smile invaded the other blonde's face. It certainly wasn't happy. No, Jiraiya knew Minato wasn't ready to be happy. As he looked at the scene though, he realised immediately what the smile encompassed. It was hope.

Jiraiya sighed - how could he ever doubt his home and his student? Of course they would survive, Minato always made sure they did. "So, what's the plan?"

Minato looked up and the smile quickly disappeared, replaced by a gloomy countenance. "Must we do this now?"

Jiraiya choked back his own anger that was bubbling at the surface. Of course he didn't want to talk about the tenebrous elephant in the room. He ignored the emotions striking his being. '_You are still his teacher._' the mantra repeated in his mind for a few moment before he forced himself to proceed; "Yes." His pain did not matter, he had to guide his student out of this horror.

Minato screwed his eyes up in guilt for a moment. "I'm- I'm sorry Jiraiya-sensei. It's just so raw."

"Which is why we have to deal with it now."

Minato sighed; Jiraiya, despite his flaws, was rarely wrong. "You will have to look after him for a while - until I fix this village - until we no longer grieve," a flashing image of a beautiful redhaired woman invaded his mind before he shook his head to dismiss the sight, "After that I should be fine and I will always have Kakashi to depend upon if I need to leave the village. Naruto will be cared for."

"And of the village?"

"Gather the dead and rebuild." His pain multiplied when Konoha's loss of life resurfaced.

"The loss in our forces?"

"Recall inactive shinobi, accelerate the learning program for some time." Minato sighed in relief when Jiraiya stopped his interrogation, hoping for a moment the man would not ask him the about one subject he wished to avoid.

"Do you want me to deal with the funeral?" It was a brutal slap to Minato and brought his mind back to reality. Jiraiya had always been blunt but he had hoped that with the current circumstances the man would avoid doing so.

"No- No she is my wife. I will bury her."

While Jiraiya did not seem to display any outward reaction he deflated in relief internally. Thankful that the man in front of him had the strength to deal with the grief. The white haired man didn't think he would be able to do it himself anyway. He had his own funeral to attend to. His teacher had died.

The God of Shinobi was now truly in the heavens.

* * *

Minato sat in the dark room with a grim look on his face. As he looked at the incredible amount of paperwork in front of him his frown deepened. Usually he would find a sort of sick humor in the amount of work a Hokage was left to do but today all he could see was that insufferable red stamp on every piece of paper in front of him; the stamp that revealed a casualty. Trying to count the sheer number of them would only result in a sore brain and heavy heart - so he didn't bother. Instead, he swept them to the side for the moment and stood out of the plushy chair that was always situated in the office of his predecessors. He tilted his head to the left for a moment and looked out of the window at the huge stone monument beside it. As his eyes rested on the Sandaime's face he sighed, remembering the older man's sacrifice. He was disturbed from his thoughts by the appearance of an ANBU in the room.

"Hokage-sama, the council has gathered as requested." The woman in the outfit spoke slowly, seemingly aware of the blonde haired man's thoughts. Minato merely nodded at the woman in question as a sign of affirmation before turning away from the window, his cloak billowing behind him.

"Very well, please get Jiraiya and ensure he makes an appearance," The Namikaze resented what he had to say next, "With my son in tow too." At the command the ANBU's eyes widened - it was not yet common knowledge that he had offspring.

"Hai. By your leave Hokage-sama?" Minato didn't have the heart to reply and merely nodded in acquiesce. Without a sound the ANBU disappeared and Minato took that also as a sign that it was time for him to make his own journey. Quickly activating a shunshin, he appeared outside the council room and ignored the slight surpise of the man who was on guard.

"Hokage-sama! You scared me," The man grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, "They are all waiting inside for you."

Once again, Minato found himself moving his head in acknowledgement before pressing his hands to the door and opening them. He was greeted with the sight of dozens of adult shinobi arguing loudly, words flying across the room. They seemed to be nearing physical confrontation; on one side he saw the ever calm and palpably cold Shikaku, flanked surprisingly by the stoic Danzou. He seemed to be trying to abate the other group, who were led by the Inuzuka woman, Tsuume. In that group he noticed a distinctly large amount of civilian members. In the middle sat the silent and terrified Akimichi and Yamanaka heads, supported by the silent Hyuuga's.

"What's going on?" He realised, with a start, that his voice came out in a sufferable rage. It was almost as if he were at the end of his fuse. The individuals in the room also seemed to notice his tone and quiet was quickly achieved. Taking the moment of silence to walk to his seat at the front of the room, he noted how everyone quickly bowed and the groups dispersed. As everyone took their seats he continued, "Well? Out with it. What has the venerable council in such an uproar?" He thought for a moment before adding, "Aside from the obvious fox problem we have recently had, of course." Everyone seemed to suddenly hesitate at his cold tone and refused to voice their concerns. Just as he was rubbing his head and preparing to dismiss the issue one of the main culprits, the Nara head, stood up.

"Hokage-sama, due to the recent... Issue our village has had to deal with we have obviously lost some manpower,"Minato nodded in agreement, that much was obvious from the blotchy red stamps on the papers in his office, "The problem however, is that we have uncovered some _startling_ statistics." The usually relaxed man seemed to tense at this and Minato's worry rose internally.

"What do you mean?"

"The losses we have incurred from the Kyuubi attack have diminished our forces so much so that we may not be able to survive an attack from another village. We are at 30% of our original size. To put it bluntly, the casualty rate has devastated us." Minato felt his own eyebrows rise in fear at this as other took a much more obvious approach to reveal their emotions. Words once again flew across the room and people seemed visibly horrified.

"What do we do?!"

"We're going to be invaded!"

"Dear god I can-"

"Quiet!" His voice boomed across the room and the particular individuals had begun to panic immediately stopped moving. Minato clicked his tongue in distaste at the people surrounding him, "Thank you." He turned once more to the Nara clan head and announced, "And what, pray tell, is you solution? I'm assuming that is what was causing the ruckus I walked in on." Several council members winced at this, embarrassed by their lack of decorum.

"A modification of the Academy training schedule." Minato whipped his head around to look at the source of this statement and found Danzou's cold eyes staring unflinchingly back at him. Suddenly he felt the distaste in his mouth grow, "_If the war-hawk has anything to do with this it obviously isn't pretty." _Minato ran through his mind quickly.

"Explain."

"Heightened intensity, increased hours and earlier graduation." A succinct reply, if there ever was one.

"How early?" Minato's eyes, he realised, had narrowed into a suspicious glare.

"War-time level, if not earlier." Muttered whispering shook the room. The last shinobi war had seen children being graduated at 8 as an average with many even younger being released earlier.

"No." It was a simple reply to a simple request. To placate Danzou's visible frustration Minato quickly added, "My reputation will hopefully stave off any immediate attacks." That much was obvious; no shinobi village would attempt an assault on Konoha without proper planning to counter the infamous Yellow Flash, "We will however, allow for a higher number of particularly 'talented' individuals to graduate early." It was a compromise and the whole room knew. Neither side truly won the battle but Minato knew when he had signed up for this job that he would sometimes have to make hard decisions - it was part of being the Hokage.

Shikaku and Danzou seemed to talk for a moment before Shikaku nodded slowly, "I can see no fault in that." Minato knew then that that was the end of it. If he had the genius Nara's support no one would bother to further oppose it. The shadow user sat back down and Minato thought for a moment that the council was content to end the meeting before a small man from the civilian side stood quickly.

"Hokage-sama if I may?" At his nod the man continued, "We know of the Sandaime's sacrifice - a noble man he was - but I was under the impression that the Kyuubi was too powerful to be killed. If that is true, what happened to it?" Minato felt his original anger return in full force. How a civilian of all things was so knowledgeable he didn't know but his question was somewhat valid.

"You are correct. The Sandaime didn't kill the creature, he could only seal it." Minato wished he hadn't worded it like that, as shinobi and civilians alike looked terrified by the prospect of the Kyuubi still surviving, "The demon is now locked away in a seal of my own design. I assure you the Kyuubi will not be returning."

"But where is it truly Hokage-sama?"

Poof.

Minato whipped around to see Jiraiya appear in a cloud of smoke behind him with a small bundle in his hands.

Perfect timing.

"The demon could not simply be locked away into an object. The beast was too strong - so he sealed it into the only thing he could; A human being." Murmurs once again rose in surprise at this with a few of the smarted shinobi already deducing what was in Jiraiya's hands, "To be precise, a newborn. There was only one child born on the night who held the strength to contain the demon."He pointed his hand toward Jiraiya at this, "That is him, the jailor of the Kyuubi - his name is Naruto." People seemed terrified by the fact that the once indomitable demon was now in the same room as him.

One woman in particular seemed to grow the courage to say something, "Hokage-sama, I beg of you to end this creatures life! We should kill the child to ensure the death of the demon!" Shouts rose in a agreement at this and Jiraiya, still holding Naruto, felt his eyes blaze all over the council. He looked to Minato who seemed strangely silent throughout the tirade, his hands clenching from what could only be fury.

Danzou narrowed his eyes at the woman's comment and quickly withdrew himself from the view of the Hokage, finding himself situated near the equally worried Koharu and Homura. Shikaku seemed to notice his retreat and for a moment wondered why the elders seemed so distressed by the line of thought - while stupid it wasn't unsurprising that someone had suggested such a thing. He looked at the boy who could be their weapon for a moment and noticed the distinct whiskers marks and golden hair. As he did so the child's eyes opened and he was faced with cerulean orbs looking outward. His eyes widened in shock as he realised precisely who the child's parents were and he quickly stood, attempting to move toward the elders. Before he could however he was forced to collapse to the floor by a flash of incredible killing intent.

Anger pervaded the room and forced everyone to the floor for a moment. The pressure was so much - too much. He felt like, no he _knew__,_ he was going to die. And then as suddenly as the agonizing terror had arrived it disappeared - gone in what must of only been a second. Everyone in the room seemed to regain their bearings.

Minato schooled his face into that of a emotionless visage. He had lost control of himself for a moment and while shameful he felt somewhat justified in his actions, "Do think so little of my skills in fuinjutsu? Do you think the Sandaime is so weak?" His voice was raising and he tried to calm down but it was no use, "Do you take me for a fool? That I would risk the life of the village and the people within it?!" The room was silent at this, everyone taking in the tirade of the fourth Hokage.

"Do you doubt my blood?" Jiraiya almost grinned at that line, keyword being almost. Now the cat was out of the bag a few of the council members realised just who they had been wishing to kill. Their faces paled immediately as they looked at the blonde-haired baby in his hands.

Minato seemed to finally regain control for a moment and breather calmly. He resumed speaking, albeit much more quietly, "My wife died to save this village, giving birth to the living, breathing savior of it. I had hoped you would not be so presumptuous as to judge this child, my own flesh and blood." People looked down, many scared of the repercussions of their words.

"I guess I thought wrong." Minato sighed, "From this point on anyone born shall not be told of the circumstances surrounding the sealing of the Kyuubi. Instead, you will tell your future children and the future generation itself that it was killed in battle by the Sandaime, his life being the forfeit of such a success. No one shall know of my heir's burden and I expect you to uphold it to be so. Anyone who does otherwise shall be sentenced to death." People looked up in relief at this, thankful for the respite granted by the man, "This meeting is over. I have no... Taste for it any longer." He walked out briskly, not looking at the people who had damned his child. Jiraiya quickly followed behind as his brow creased in worry.

He loved his village and probably always would. It was simply a fact of being Hokage. He had not, however, expected to ever see such a dark side of his people. Shaking his head lightly, he pushed the thought away. It wouldn't do any good to dwell on an idle mistake. He would forgive them - as he always did.

Regardless, a small sliver of doubt crept into his mind.

* * *

**So I've finally returned for those of you who somehow still remember you - all two of you. I've only recently got back into Naruto so my understanding of the well is still a little sketchy so forgive me for that. As far as writing goes I'm going to be sporadic with updates cause I'm silly like that. I deleted my old story "Ruled By A White Gaze." mostly because it was in the same vein as this and I disliked the overall thoughts behind it (I was like 12 when I wrote it hehe).**

**This story below is a bit of the "Minato Lives!" plotline but I've decided I'll be following canon somewhat closely - Naruto will however be experiencing an entirely different journey up until the usual Academy Graduation. No - he will not be super-powerful. Yes - he will be graduating much earlier. Hope you enjoy!**


	2. Training Arc: Time To Die

**The Shadow Of A Flash  
**_  
__Chapter 2: Time To Die_

* * *

It was an unusually cold night for Konoha. It was the peak of summer and at this time of the year one would often experience humid evenings. Today was very different however, there was a cold air flowing through the quiet village. While most had returned to their homes and began to rest for the next day there were two individuals in particular who were still up and about.

One sat in the Hokage's office, writing up reports and balancing the economy in the wee hours of the night. He was a blonde haired man and anyone who bothered to look could see the fatigue in his eyes. Fortunately, he seemed to be nearing the end of his work and because of that one could easily see a certain contentment slipping into his eyes.

The other was a mysterious man on the border of a forest; he wore a body-long cloak that covered himself from the world and seemed to be trying as hard as possible to avoid detection from anyone in the village. As he walked into the forest he soon came upon an expansive building. The man changed his direction - his objective found. He quickly arrived at the building and slipped past the ANBU guard that had been detailed around it. He neared a window - a very particular one - and looked inside. A small boy of about three was sleeping in a bed and a youth of about seventeen with unflinchingly white hair sat passively at the entrance to the room. The mysterious man seemed startled by the teenagers presence but quickly regained control of himself. He looked at the boy again curiously, his orange swirled mask almost shining in the darkness.

His plans had changed, it seemed. The Yondaime had changed the sealing day by day and whispers of the village spoke of pitfalls that would restrict any attempt to remove the tailed beast. That the seal would explode outward and shower anyone in proximity with a deadly amount of the demon's chakra. The man knew that while he was powerful even he couldn't handle the raw acidity of the chakra and so he had to think differently. If he couldn't simply take the beast then what was there left? He realised suddenly a perfect solution. It would take time, enough time so that it would realign with his original schedule. Things would have to be altered and plans modified - but it could work.

If Tobi couldn't take the beast, then he'd take the boy.

* * *

"Kaka-niisan!" The young voice echoed through the usually quiet hallways of the Namikaze estate. While the owner of the voice was clearly a very young child it didn't stop the sound from travelling.

The man in question winced slightly and rubbed his ears, "Am I that impressive Naru-chan?" Kakashi strode through the hall slowly, a smile on his face. If one was looking however, they wouldn't see it - his face being covered by the half mask he was famous for.

"You're late!" Naruto pouted.

"I am?" Kakashi seemed to look out at the sun for a moment before continuing, "Oh I am! I must have got delayed when I was visiting your father in his office." The voice came out as a drawl and for any adult listening it was obvious he was joking.

"Liar!" Of course, his young charge was not yet four so Kakashi's tone went unnoticed, "Daddy's busy! He's not home."

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head slightly and put his hands up in mock confusion, "I must have been thinking of yesterday... Or was it the day before? Pah! Who knows." The boy giggled at Kakashi's antics slightly.

The masked man grinned at the boy's delighted countenance and announced, "Hmm, I'm hungry. Wanna eat?" The boy, at the mention of food, completely forgot the earlier conflict and jumped in joy.

"Ichiraku! Ichiraku!" The boy screamed happily.

"Ramen _again?_" Kakashi grew off-put at this. Making an exaggerated sigh the teen groaned in reply, "Fine, let's go." He held his hand out to Naruto, the three year old having been dressed by his father before the man left. The boy didn't immediately grab it and Kakashi raised a brow at this, "What now Naru-chan? I swear if you did something to the house again..."

The boy shook his head vigorously, "Not my fault Kitten fell for it!" Kakashi was immediately reminded of the time when Naruto had snuck out of the grasp of his ANBU carer Cat for a moment and run riot throughout the house. As far as he knows the boy somehow managed to get the usually stoic ANBU infuriated and a tad wet. Whether from water or the food splattered all over the man's clothing he had never found out. "Fly! Fly!"

Kakashi sighed, something he found himself doing more and more often lately in the presence of Naruto, "Is that what this is about? Fine." Kakashi grabbed the boy by the waist and initiated a shunshin, teleporting from inside the house to a building near the famous Ichiraku Ramen Bar. He smirked viciously as he dropped the boy upon landing, hoping for an angry reaction. Instead all he received were giggles and an exuberant yell. Kakashi smiled underneath his mask regardless, the poor boy always wanted to shunshin everywhere - probably as some sort of way to copy his father and his infamous technique. He waited for the boy to gather himself before thrusting his hand out again. This time there was no protest and the boy looped his hand through Kakashi's own gloved one.

As the two walked down the street toward the ramen bar people around them muttered quietly. Kakashi, still maintaining his masked smile, listened to the conversations surrounding them. Most revolved around the sight of Naruto - some following along the lines of fear of what he contained while others contained curiosity. It wasn't everyday you saw the son of the Hokage out and about - at least not without the man himself. Naruto was attached to Minato like a moth to a flame in public. As he listened he also noticed with a surge of pride some comments surrounded himself and his own growing skill.

"One miso please!" It seemed they had arrived as Naruto had raced onto the stool and already ordered. Teuchi, the owner of the bar, nodded at the small boy before looking at Kakashi with that infectious smile of his.

"The usual." It was a curt reply but Kakashi's mind was focused on the other occupants of the bar, "Naruto, it seems we have company." The boy looked him in confusion before realizing what that two other people were on the other side of him. "Choza-dono." A tad formal but Kakashi needed his young charge to realize what position he was in.

It seemed the almost four-year old got the message as his back stiffened his eyes widened and his hands immediately dropped into his waist. Kakashi frowned slightly at the conditioning the boy had experienced but knew at a somewhat deeper level it was necessary for the son of the Hokage to be trained in etiquette. The Akimichi in question looked up as Kakashi addressed him and smiled.

"Hatake-san! What a pleasant surprise!" He seemed to notice Naruto at this point and grinned at the boy, "Little Namikaze, what a pleasure."

In reply Naruto merely bowed his head in deference to the older man and quietly spoke, "Hello Akimichi-dono."

The big man frowned at this and spoke loudly, "Ahh none of that! I have enough of it in that musty old council room. Call me Chouza!"

The man's booming voice would of usually intimidated children but Naruto drew strength from it, "Choza-san!" _'Always one to make friends.' _Kakashi mused at the blonde boy's reaction.

"I'd like to introduce you to my son, Chouji. He'd be about your age I think." At this the eyes in the room shifted to the previously forgotten occupant. A small chubby boy rested on the seat next to Chouza, wearing an almost identical little red suit as his father.

"Hi!" The boy spoke loudly and with no small amount of innocent youth inflected in it. "I'm Chouji! What's your name?" Kakashi would of replied but he knew that the statement was directed at his young charge.

"Naruto!" the boy proclaimed it loudly. Too loudly if you asked Kakashi. The two boys seemed to engage in a conversation about ramen at that point and Kakashi sighed in satisfaction and what he assumed must of been relief. Naruto was distracted - for now.

"So, this is the boy is it?" Chouza muttered, although it seemed he was talking to himself more than anything. As he looked at Naruto with a piercing gaze Kakashi narrowed his eyes slightly and fingered a kunai in his pouch. He very much doubted a clan head would openly cause problems with the Yondaime's son but he was staring at Naruto that made Kakashi slightly uncomfortable. Just as Kakashi was about to voice his concerns the man tilted his head slightly and continued to speak while still looking at Naruto, "I can see his mother in him. So similar and yet... So different." The bulky man spoke in an almost reverential tone and Kakashi raised his brow in confusion.

"Chouza-san?"

The man ceased his calculating stare and turned to Kakashi, "The curse he holds will be a hard one to carry Hatake. I only hope he has the strength to hold it." An interesting choice of words if there ever was one, Kakashi wondered what the man was up to. "It seems he'll have some help however, and from my son from the looks of things." At this the man smiled and Kakashi looked over at the two boys who had begun a vigorous arm wrestle. Naruto was being quickly defeated but the two laughed it off afterwards.

Kakashi turned to the man with that famous crinkled smile he always wore, "I think Naru-chan will be fine." And as he said it he instinctively looked over at Naruto to wait for the screams that always accompanied calling him by his pet name.

* * *

Naruto dropped to the floor, gasping for air desperately. Sweat coated his face and dripped into his eyes. He quickly tried to wipe his face clean with his hand and knocked some strands of his blonde hair out of his eyes as he did so.

"Again." The voice wasn't exactly cold, but neither was it one of warmth. Naruto stood quickly, trying to obey the command. His legs soon gave way again however and he fell to the floor again. The owner of the voice grunted in dissatisfaction as he collapsed a second time, "Again." This time, Naruto knew he couldn't fail.

He stopped up, his chest heaving and his legs wobbling as he did so, "H-Hai." He managed out through his gasps of breath.

The man smiled at this slightly, "Good. Continue the exercise." Naruto nodded in reply and resumed moving through the rigid stance of the taijutsu form he was learning. As he did so the man, his father, looked back down to his scroll and seemed to lose interest in following Naruto's progress.

The boy knew differently however – he knew if he slacked off even the slightest amount Minato would know. So he continued moving his body through the different stances, feeling his muscles burn and struggle to continue even as he did so. As he did it though, he felt something wrong. This time he didn't have the strength to continue. He felt his legs give way half way through gliding a punch in the air. He dropped to the floor, face buried in the grass of the training ground they had been using. He tried to move with all his might but only managed to look up at his father's form. He had lowered the scroll again and was looking at Naruto was a mysterious gaze.

"I'm s-sorry fath-"

"Hush. That's enough for today." His voice was warm this time and Naruto could detect the small sliver of worry that he couldn't prevent from entering his tone, "Lion." At this a flutter of leaves appeared next to the man and signified the appearance of an ANBU.

"Hokage-sama?" the man asked neutrally.

"Take my son to his room. Ensure he is cleaned up and rested for tomorrow." Minato seemed to think for a moment before looking over to his son, "You know what tomorrow is. Be ready for it, Naruto."

The boys eyes widened marginally before he nodded slowly, "Father-"

Minato interrupted him quickly, "Don't worry. It's merely a day of formalities." This didn't seem to appease the boy's growing worry so the man added, "Don't forget, you'll be at my side for the day."

Finally Naruto seemed to calm down and allowed himself to be guided by the ANBU member to his room. As he left he thought about the next days proceedings.

It was his sixth birthday.

He hated his birthday.

* * *

He woke up with a start from the slight shuffling he could hear in his room. An ever present ANBU stood next to his bed and looked at him with a mask painted in the style of a feline. Naruto smiled lightly at the man; he had always liked Cat.

"Time to get up Namikaze-san."

Naruto nodded and before he could get a word out the ANBU member vanished, presumably standing outside his room to allow Naruto some privacy. Without wasting a moment Naruto stood quickly and slipped into a pair of his usual navy-blue shinobi pants that he always wore. He then quickly pulled a black undershirt on that displayed the Uzumaki clan symbol proudly. Next to be put on was his white vest that he used to try and emulate his father with. Unlike his father's billowing cloak this ended at his waist while still presenting the licking red flames at the bottom. Finishing the outfit was bandaging wrapped around the extent of his arms, with armbands locking the clothe into place in several places. He smiled softly at the armbands; they were a gift last year from his father - they had been Minato's when he was younger and the man had proudly claimed that Naruto looked like him in them. There was however one that differed from the others.

On his right hand one of the armbands - the one wrapped around his wrist - held a black hairtag into place on his wrist. It was his mother's and the only thing he had to remember her by in terms of appearance. He wore it proudly and, slipping on his blue sandals, walked out of his room into the empty halls of the Namikaze household. He was greeted by the sight of Cat leaning on the wall and gazing at him with a curious look on his face.

"A spitting image, Namikaze-san." He spoke slowly as he digested Naruto's clothes, "Let's go - your father is waiting." He gestured for Naruto to follow and the boy did so quickly. As they weaved through the countless halls they eventually neared the exit. The man stopped at the door and pointed at it, "Your father is waiting outside. Have a good day Naruto."

The boy smiled at the man using his name for once, "You too Cat." He walked past the mysterious ANBU member and pushed the doors slowly, reveling in the feeling of sun on his face. Minato noticed his arrival and smiled at him broadly.

"Naruto! Happy birthday." The man held his hands out broadly to his son and the boy in question quickly walked over and hugged the man, "Six years old already eh? Feels like it was only yesterday I held you in my hand."

"Daaaaaad." Naruto whined slowly, his countenance immediately improved by the sight of his father.

"Pah! Let an old man revel in the past for a moment." He wasn't really that old but he always seemed to act like he was, the boy mused, "Let's walk." And so they did, beginning the long trek toward the centre of the village. As they left the compound of the Namikaze household the trees surrounding it began to thin and just before they entered the populated area of Konoha Minato looked back at his son and gestured for him to stop.

"Dad?"

"Naruto, she'd be so proud of you." The man spoke wistfully and the boy realised that the man wasn't truly with them in the forest, he was somewhere else. "She was always worried you'd get my hair. I think she'd take a sick pleasure in you getting her temperament over mine as a trade off though. Heh, it was always her biggest strength and yet her greatest weakness." Naruto listened with hitched breath, his father usually never mentioned his mother - she was a sore topic for him with anyone - especially Naruto.

"Father?" He used the more formal term in worry.

"Don't ever lose that son - that kindness is worth more than anything I could ever give you."

"Y-Yes dad." Naruto spoke with confusion.

"Now, we're entering the village. Be on your best behavior." And with that the man glided ahead, resuming the customary position he took with Naruto in public. he walked several feet ahead, his Hokage robe billowing behind him. Naruto tagged behind, an obedient son following his father's lead. As they walked past people many bowed their heads in respect to the man and then looked at him with a cold indifference.

Minato frowned slightly at this - he had hoped the public would become enamored with his son by now but it seemed his reputation only tempered the hate and fear for the Kyuubi many still held. His son lowered his head at the looks and Minato grew unreasonably irritated quickly. In an attempt to avoid further anger he walked quickly and tried to arrive at the Hokage tower faster. Before he knew it they stood at the entrance to the monolithic structure and, looking back to ensure his son was in tow, strode into the tower and began climbing the stairs. He had a few minutes before he had to do the traditional speech.

He entered his office and, noticing his company was already in the room, walked toward the window the other man was leaning next to. His son quickly followed suit and stood behind him nervously.

"Minato." It wasn't a happy reunion persay - who could be happy on this day? But the two did always enjoy seeing each other.

"Jiraiya-sensei, it's good to see you." Minato smiled at the member of the Sannin in front of him. Naruto's eyes widened and he seemed to want to say something but remained silent, ever obedient.

"Oh, you brought the brat." Jiraiya said off-handedly, "Hey squirt!" His voice boomed at Naruto and the boy smiled.

"Jiraiya!" The boy loved the times he saw his father's teacher, however few and far between they were.

"Six years old and still tiny! Hahaha!" The man grinned and laughed at Naruto, pretending to walk up to the boy and measure him.

Naruto frowned slightly, "I'm not small!" It wasn't exactly angry but nor was it the tempered quietness one usually expected from the boy in public. It seemed in the presence of Jiraiya the boy's other side came out. It reminded Minato of Kushina and he clenched his hands slightly.

"Hey brat, I'd love to- well actually no I wouldn't love to talk to a little kid. Just get out wouldya!" The man motioned at the door and pushed the boy out roughly. The boy looked to protest but then saw Minato's calm but firm gaze at him. Immediately, the boy turned and left.

"Yeah yeah. I'm going." It was an unusually smarmy reply from the boy but Minato merely smiled slightly at the remark. As the door closed behind the boy Minato immediately flared his chakra and activated the privacy jutsu surrounding the room.

Jiraiya looked at his student slightly and spoke with a serious tone, "Now what did you call me all the way back here for?" He had been out of the village when Minato had messaged him to return - on the anniversary of the Kyuubi attack no less.

"I want you to train Naruto." It was a blunt request.

The older man looked at him in surprise, "Why?"

"I have recently gathered... knowledge on the Kyuubi attack that has led me to believe Naruto will be in danger." At the old man's stricken look he spoke quickly, "It's nothing on our side. The seal is still strong and should be for quite some time. No... What I've learnt is far more _disturbing_."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems that Kyuubi was controlled by someone when it attacked the village. I don't know who or how but what I do know is that he or she will likely return - and this time it'll be Naruto who's the target."

"How do you know this?"

"I had a _chat _with the beast. I forced myself into Naruto's mind while he was sleeping and spoke to Kyuubi. He was infuriated to see me, cursing me as the builder of his Jail. I didn't really get as far as I'd liked in terms of talking with it. The beast simply raged and at one point he spoke of the humiliation of being controlled, being ruled, by another. I had always had had my suspicions as to how the Kyuubi had escaped Kushina-chan's..." At this the man heaved a huge sigh, "Seal but this is irrefutable."

"When Minato? When is he in danger?" The old man had grown oddly calm at the influx of the information.

"Not for some time - but it will come, I know it." The old man sighed and rubbed his temple as Minato spoke. He leaned even more on the wall and attempted to collect his thoughts.

"So what's the plan?"

"You must train him as you did for me. Teach him all you can for the next two years. I can't focus on him enough - you can."

"Are you absolutely sure Minato? What of his childhood?"

"A sacrifice."

"Are you ser-" Jiraiya stood quickly.

"Don't lecture me sensei! It is his childhood or his life!" Minato spoke angrily, the words bleeding out of his mouth, "I hate this. I hate it more than anything - but it is necessary. I will not lose my son!"

"Alright Minato-kun, alright. I'll train him."

"Two years, that's all you have. Then, I'll be taking him under my own care."

"Two? That's hardly enough for-"

"I don't intend for you to impart all your knowledge on him. When he returns he will be taken under the wing of another. Someone who will hopefully be ready at that point for such a responsibility."

"And what of my travelling? Shall I take him with me?" Jiraiya questioned.

"Yes, do your best to keep him in the village - he needs to make more friends and god knows what I've done to that - but if you can't then take him with you."

The room was silent for a moment before Jiraiya moved to leave, "Should I get him?"

"No. One more thing - test him to be a genin." Jiraiya eyes widened marginally, "He deserves some sort of recognition for his hard work and he certainly is worthy of it."

Jiraiya held the stare for a moment, a calculating gaze in his eyes, "How strong is he truly?"

"His taijutsu is remarkable for someone his age - I'd say around genin level - but he can't get better until he's older. His genjutsu is non-existant; it seems that a byproduct of the Kyuubi is an inability to use illusions. He can however dispel them. His weapons, tracking and stealth are all of a reasonable level - once again around genin. It's his ninjutsu though..." Minato seemed to take a breath here and Jiraiya raised an amused eyebrow at the proud father, "It's on a whole another level, prodigious even. He has mastered everything I've thrown at him."

"And what exactly have you thrown at him?"

"His range of ninjutsu is actually quite small, the standard academy three with a few additional clone techniques and some minor Fuuton jutsu. It's not that which is the astounding part though, it's his elemental training. He's a natural; by the time you return you could have him mastering wind. Jiraiya... He could finish the Rasengan."

Jiraiya's head tilted slightly, "A tall ask... But then it _would_ be great to boast about teaching two prodigies." Jiraiya grinned at the thought, "I'd have to be something special to manage that! Well, more special than I am now." The old man basked in his own moment of glory before his serious demeanor returned, "Alright, I'll test him. Now, have you told him about what's happening?"

"No, it's his birthday. I'll ruin his day tomorrow." Minato spoke softly.

"Ahh come on! I'm not that bad a company!" Jiraiya grinned broadly and Minato felt some happiness return in him.

"Oh, one more thing. If I hear about any _lecherous _activities I will _not _be happy." Minato smiled at him as he spoke, teeth clenching.

"No promises!" Jiraiya giggled and disappeared through the window.

* * *

"I'll be what?" Naruto knew he was coming off as skeptical, angry even, but he couldn't for the life of him understand why his father would allow another to train him.

"You'll be training under Jiraiya - no complaints." Minato spoke coldly. He couldn't afford to show weakness or his son might just be able to make him give in.

"B-But what about your training?"

"I'll be too busy to fully harness your potential. Jiraiya will be putting his full focus on your training."

"I don't want to though..." His voice was quiet and unsure. Naruto never usually questioned his father but he found this idea of leaving his father's side discomforting to say the least.

"Jiraiya is a great sensei Naruto - and an even greater man. You'll love your time with him, trust me."

"Two years is a long time."

Minato grinned, "Only for someone as young as you! When you reach my age two years is nothing." Naruto didn't reply, seeming to accept his fate. "Besides, it's not like we won't see each other - you'll just be training with Jiraiya." Naruto seemed to regain some happiness at that, "And... Jiraiya will be testing you to see if you're worthy to be a genin before you start."

Naruto's head shot up at that and he smiled widely, "Really?!" Minato merely nodded in affirmation.

"Naruto, I might not show it but I'm proud of your progression so far. I think it's only fair that you have a chance to test your power." It came out somewhat hesitantly, Minato wasn't one to mince words with Naruto, but he knew the boy needed reassuring at a time like this.

"Aww I'm gonna go train!" And with that the boy fled the scene, running toward the door. Minato allowed a smile to grace his lips - a true one.

Ah, the fickle mind of a child.

* * *

Tap. Tap. Tap.

One eye opened slightly, revealing a bright blue eye. The eye made contact with the window, where the infuriating sound was coming from. When it saw what was at the window the eye's counterpart quickly opened as well. Naruto jumped out of his bed to greet the man at his door.

"Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto tested the words on his tongue, it came out weird to call the man in front of him his teacher.

"The one and only. Hurry up and get dressed - I got things to do and places to be." The man spoke with an annoyed tone but Naruto knew it was just the man's way of getting under his skin. He ignored the other individual for a moment and quickly got dressed. He returned and Jiraiya motioned for him to grab his hand. "Hurry up brat. I wanna get going already." Naruto grabbed the man's offered hand and felt the sickening feeling of a shunshin before he opened his eyes to an inconspicuous training ground. As he gained his bearings Jiraiya moved back from him a bit and cracked his knuckled menacingly.

"So brat... I, the almighty Jiraiya of the Sannin, have been given the task of training you." He sniffed the air for a moment before continuing, "Yesssss... I can smell your amazement and gratitude emanating off your body." Naruto gave the man a deadpanned look.

"You can't smell emotions Jiraiya-sensei."

"Bah! I was trying to make a joke you idiot!" And with that Jiraiya whacked him over the head.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted indignantly.

"You better get used to that feeling, cause your gonna be experiencing it a lot in a sec!" Jiraiya grinned madly at him for a moment, "So your silly father has decided you, _you, _might be able to become a genin - Don't even bother, I find the suggestion hilarious too - so we're going to have a little spar of spar of sorts to test your skills. We'll start off with taijutsu first so get ready!" Naruto tightened his muscles and prepared to fight.

"Oh and Naruto?" A tilted head indicated the boy was listening, "Make sure you come at me with the intent to kill. Or should we aim lower? Yeah... Actually, make sure you come at me with the intent to touch - let's see if you can manage that first." The way the man was both mocking and goading him at the same time was making Naruto angry and he felt his usual composure beginning to burst, "Well? Are you gonna start?"

Naruto needed no further prompting as he dashed forward, subconsciously pumping chakra into his legs. He quickly arrived in front of the older man and threw a punch at his face Jiraiya simply sidestepped it and, as Naruto followed the first attack with an uppercut, spun around to the right of the boy, whacking him in the back of the head as he did so. Naruto simply growled in response and attempted perform a sweeping kick. Jiraiya instinctively jumped upwards and Naruto grinned as the man lost the ability to move. He thrust a fist forward only for it to be quickly slapped away. His follow-up; a fist swinging in from the other side, was knocked away in similar fashion and he once again felt a fist hitting the back of his head. The two dispersed for a moment and Jiraiya giggled madly.

"I've forgotten how fun it is to fight brats like you. How does the head feel?" If Naruto were completely honest at that point he'd admit it was throbbing - instead he simply pushed forwards again and renewed his assault. As he, once again, punched forwards the Sannin, once again, stepped sideways. His follow-up uppercut was quickly avoided and his sweeping kick laughed off. "The same move again? Really? How disappointing." The Sannin mocked mercilessly. As he did this Naruto did the same form again and the toad-master repeated his side of the dance again. After the third attempt to sweep the man's legs out from under him Naruto shot forwards with a punch into Jiraiya's stomach. The man formed an X with his hands and cut the arm between his two wrists. As he did this however, Naruto pushed his momentum forward and, while flipping, brought his leg down viciously on the Sannin's head. A moment of victory flashed across Naruto's face before Jiraiya suddenly stopped moving entirely and used one hand to grab the leg mid-air and toss Naruto, body and all, metres away.

As Naruto rolled on the floor the Sannin spoke, "Heh. Lulling me into a false sense of security... Good idea but you probably should have used other, equally useless, but different attacks to trick me rather then relying on a single movement. It made it pretty obvious. I guess your taijutsu is _ok, _maybe just barely passable." The man thought for a moment before saying, "Does that sound believable to you? I hope so cause I'm bored of watching you flail your arms around."

He walked over to Naruto, who was still lying on the floor, and said, "Alright. Let's see some ninjutsu. The basic three, if you don't mind." Naruto nodded and stood quickly. He flashed through a series of handseals and quickly replaced himself with a nearby log. Jiraiya nodded slowly, "Perfect replacement. I guess you're not entirely useless." Naruto scowled at him, affronted by the insult to his skill. "Stop gawking at me like an idiot and get on with the henge!" Another bop to the back of Naruto's head was soon felt by the boy.

Another flash of handseals, "Henge no Jutsu!" In popped a carbon copy of Minato and Jiraiya almost took a step back in surprise - they looked identical! Short of Naruto's grim whisker marks on either check he was just like Minato had been at that age.

"Let's see if it holds up..." He whacked the kid on the back off the head and a cloud of smoke signaled the dispelling of the technique. Where the Hokage had just stood now had a small, very angry young boy, "I guess not..." Jiraiya giggled a little to himself at that point. "Ok let's see some clones now brat."

"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" Three clones popped into existence, utilising the small pond nearby to be created.

Jiraiaya raised his eyebrow slightly, "No simple bunshin?"

"I couldn't manage to master it so father gave me some other ones."

"How many other ones exactly?"

"I can also create an earth clone and shadow clone." Naruto grinned at this, thinking he had impressed his new sensei.

"Only two more? Pah! Useless." Jiraiya laughed outright at the boy's downtrodden expression, "Still, I guess it's good enough." He reached into his pocket for a moment and seemed to be shuffling to try and grab something, "Ah! here it is." He threw a metal headband at the boy, "Congrats brat. You're now a useless _genin._ Moving up in the world." Naruto didn't respond, his eyes captivated by the glimmering metal he held in his hands. Despite the sun blinding him from the reflection he could still make out the symbol etched into it; a leaf blazed brightly in the shine of the sun. He smiled, a true smile and looked up at the man who had given him the item.

"Thank you Jiraiya-sensei."

"Yeah whatever brat. Anyways, how about we work on making you less useless hey?" The man drawled out distractedly.

"Huh?" Was Naruto's eloquent response.

"We're gonna work on some chakra control stuff. Time for you to learn how to climb a tree."

Naruto looked at him in confusion, "But I already can climb a tree?"

Jiraiya grinned madly, "Can you walk up one? Can you also walk up one while weapons are throwing at you? Didn't think so... Now, let's get started!" Naruto couldn't help but feel a deep shiver run down his spine; the way Jiraiya had laughed just hinted at doom for him. As he thought about the bad feeling he was getting a hand hit the back of his head, "I said get over to that tree brat!"

And so began Naruto's training.

* * *

Slipping on his clothes for the day, Naruto quickly grabbed his headband on the side of his bed as he left the room. He fastened it onto his head and couldn't help but grin like a madman as he did so. It had been 18 months since he had started training with Jiraiya and received the piece of clothing and he still couldn't help but feel giddy whenever he strapped it on his forehead. He walked into the kitchen at a leisurely pace only to find someone already occupying the area.

"Kaka-niisan!" The boy grinned at the sight of the 20 year old.

"Hmm... Naruto why do you never have any milk?" The white haired man seemed to be pilfering his kitchen and Naruto pouted slightly at the man's lack of a greeting, "Oh that's right... You're going out of the village today with Jiraiya-sama aren't you? Damn, I guess I'll be doing the shopping then." While the man did live in the Hatake estate he found himself looking after Naruto more often then not. He was just thankful that the Hokage had finally allowed him to join ANBU. Around the same time Naruto had begun training with Jiraiya the dog-nin had joined the illusive organisation. It helped to hone his skills - when he wasn't looking after Naruto that is.

"Yeah sorry, I drank the rest of it last night." The 7 year old grinned sheepishly. "Yeah Jiraiya-sensei's taking me out on an awesome journey. We're gonna visit some secret shinobi."

Kakashi smiled at the boy's innocence, "I don't think it'll be too dramatic Naru-chan. You're only seven after all."

"Seven and a half!" The boy spoke quickly, countering Kakashi's comment.

"Pah! Whatever. Point being, Jiraiya-sama wouldn't let anything too dangerous happen. I wouldn't get famous if I were you." As Naruto seethed at his dismissal like only a child would Kakashi thought on what he had said - they sounded like famous last words. "_I worry too much." _he thought to himself and shrugged his shoulders, returning to the search for breakfast.

* * *

As the bird's chirped and the sun shone on Naruto's head he basked in the wind blowing through his hair. It was a good day.

"Heads up brat." A hit to the back of the head accompanied the shout and Naruto soon felt himself tumbling over the ground as Jiraiya laughed madly at his expense.

Scratch that, Namikaze Naruto was _not _having a good day. It was the afternoon of the third day of travelling with the man and as they travelled the Sannin seemed to delight in causing Naruto great pain and irritation. If it wasn't a whack to the back of the head it was some stupid question about a foreign shinobi conflict that made Naruto's head spin. All in all, it was infuriating to the young blonde and he didn't know if he could take it for much longer.

"We're near the town kid." Jiraiya announced suddenly and Naruto felt a rush of relief enter his body. He was gonna be free from the madman soon! "When we get there I'll book us into a hotel and you can stay there while I go do what I gotta do."

Naruto nodded at his explanation and asked, "What are you actually doing?"

Jiraiya grinned lecherously, "Research - and some other stuff, for that silly village we live in." The first bit was a lie, all he was doing was meeting one of his contacts to discuss some information on the movements of another village.

Naruto looked at him in confusion, "Research?"

"Ask me in 10 years and I'll tell you. Oh look, we're here." It was true, the two of them had arrived at the town without Naruto even noticing. As they walked through the streets Naruto watched the people walking past him. They all seemed to have something to do and Naruto almost snorted at their boring lives. Being a shinobi was so much more interesting than what they did. As he looked around the place his eyes passed over a tree and he didn't notice the dark figure hiding behind it - staring right back at him.

"Alright this looks good." Jiraiya stopped in front of a tall building. Naruto looked in wonder at it's height as they walked into the building. He watched as Jiraiya walked over to the reception and engaged with a young woman there. The man gave the woman a sickly grin that Naruto couldn't help but be disturbed by - even if he didn't understand what it meant. He heard the man mutter something under his breath but couldn't quite make out what he said. As he did so the woman looked at him in what could only be described as disgust. She handed him a key and motioned for him to get out of her face. He quickly did so, all the while grinning at her horrified expression. As he approached Naruto decided to investigate the weird proceedings.

"What was that about? What'd you say to her?"

Jiraiya looked at him in surprise, "Huh? Oh, nothing you need to know about. It's _adult _stuff." He puffed up his chest at the end of the sentence and made Naruto feel much smaller, "Anyways, I got a room so let's go get you settled." As he said this he beckoned for Naruto to follow him. He headed up a set of stairs and then arrived in a long hallway. They walked down it until Jiraiya suddenly stopped at one of the doors, "This is our room, here's the key brat." He threw the piece of metal at the boy who hastily caught it. "I'm gonna be out for a few hours. Don't leave the room and try not to burn the building down." Naruto looked at him in surprise, he hadn't expected for the man to let him look after himself.

Jiraiya noticed the look at said, "I swear to kami if you've done anything when I get back I'll do more then hit you in the back of your empty head." Naruto pouted at the man's words but knew deep down they were only in jest, "Now if you don't mind..." Jiraiya performed a handseal and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Yeah good night to you too." Naruto giggled to himself. Then he realised he was making a joke to himself quickly looked around in the hope no one had seen. Not seeing anyone he smirked slightly and went over to the door and put the key in. Unbeknownst to the boy someone had watched him talk to himself and the person in question was attempting to get closer to the boy. Finally Naruto managed to get the door open and flung himself into the room, closing the door behind him. He looked across the room and, seeing nothing special, decided to rest on the chair and read a book. He got himself sat down and then reached into his pouch to grab the book he was carrying with him. A small blue book soon appeared in his hands and Naruto read the title slowly:

_**Historical Account of the Third Shinobi War: Pre-Kannabi Bridge**_

**the Battle of the Green Plains**

_As previously stated, the defeat of Konoha's forces at the __Yu no Kuni castle neighbouring the border of __Hi no Kuni allowed for the intrusion of Kumo shinobi into Konoha's land. This meant that, combined with the Iwa assult currently being experienced from the north-west, that Konoha was experiencing a two-pronged attack from the north. This severely drained the already diminished border patrols preventing full-scale invasion. In order to combat this the Sandaime ordered a counter-attack in the north-east. The idea was to push the Kumo shinobi back into Yu no Kuni and then eventually re-establish control of the region. To succeed in this however the Konoha forces first had to meet-_

A loud bang interrupted Naruto's reading. Instinctively palming a kunai, the boy looked up at the source of the sound. The door that had once been the entrance to the room had been blown off entirely and a shimmering figure stood in its frame. The man stepped through the smoke of the explosion that had knocked the door down and Naruto saw his Iwa headband gleaming in the light. A large slash ran across the front of it that made Naruto shiver slightly.

_"A missing-nin!" _He thought in fear. The man was tall and possessed a lean build that revealed the muscles beneath his clothes. He was wearing a simple pair of camo brown pants with some ANBU armor on his chest. He walked with a swagger and his body suggested a level of relaxation one wouldn't expect on a person run from the law. He looked down at Naruto coldly, his face an apathetic mask.

"Namikaze Naruto." The man seemed to choose this moment to speak, "Son of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato; also known as the Yellow Flash."

"W-What?" How this man knew his name and his heritage was frightening. The man tilted his head at Naruto's response and smirked.

"Time to die."

* * *

**So here we are again - and so soon! I'm quite impressed if I do say so myself. Expect my updates to diminish into nothingness though, my mind is a fickle thing (I'm weird like that). I do apologise for the dark nature of the first few chapters - sometimes I feel like it's a bit 'whiney' but I just can't help how my mind wants it written unfortunately. Hopefully it'll brighten up soon enough! ****Feel free to leave a review with any questions or problems (e.g. spelling errors or the like). I'll endeavor to answer or solve everything I can!**

**Just to clarify; I won't be using a particular standard when it comes to English vs Japanese wording as I know I'll fail at it - so if you see a random, convoluted combination of the two then I apologise. You'll just have to bear with me.**


	3. Training Arc: My Comrade

**The Shadow Of A Flash**

_Chapter 3: My Comrade_

* * *

"Time to die." The words, spoken with such calm confidence, shook Naruto to the core. Before he could even contemplate why the man wanted to kill him he found himself jumping backwards to try and avoid the Iwa-nin's charge. The man struck at Naruto, trying to punch him in the stomach. The boy sidestepped it hastily and jumped backwards to avoid the follow-up kick. He landed awkwardly and the man took advantage of his unbalanced form to land a devastating kick into Naruto's side. As he tumbled from the sheer force of the attack Naruto looked around wildly. He was stuck in the tiny hotel room.

_"There's no room! I've gotta get out of here!" _His mind scrambled to come up with a plan. He looked around in desperation for an exit and saw a window, opened by the staff of the hotel to let some air in. He darted for it but didn't even make halfway before he was forced to defend himself against a barrage of punches. One found it's way through and he soon felt himself flying backwards from the hit. As he did the man threw a kunai at him. Naruto quickly bent his head to try and avoid it. The kunai just passed his face, slashing his cheek as it did so. The blood dripped down into his mouth and Naruto was terrified by the taste of it. The man seemed to take silent delight in the boy's fear and stalked toward him slowly. As he did so Naruto suddenly felt as if the whole world was collapsing around him. He saw flashes of himself dying over and over.

_"What is this power?" _Naruto thought in horror. He couldn't move, locked into place by the man's raw killing intent. As the man neared him Naruto tried to break free but only succeeded in stepping backwards slightly, _"I'm going to die!"_ The realisation was immediate. Naruto's hands slackened in preparation for the end. Suddenly Naruto saw flashes of his father, of Jiraiya, of Kakashi. They wouldn't have batted an eyelid at this and here he was being intimidated into death by killing intent. Naruto's resolve began to return, _"N-No!" _He quickly made a decision.

Standing up quickly, he flashed through a series of handseals, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" As he shouted 5 copies of himself popped into existence. Without a word they ran at the man. The Iwa-nin merely snorted and began mercilessly destroying every single one. As he finished the last off he began to laugh.

"So wea-" He didn't finish his sentence, unable to locate Naruto. The boy himself was jumping out of the window as the man spoke. He soon realised his mistake and roared in anger. He darted after Naruto and jumped out of the window. Naruto ran up the side of the building and soon felt the man racing behind him. He was catching up - and quickly. Naruto finally reached the top and flipped onto the roof. Not a moment too soon either as the man came right behind him and stalked toward the boy angrily.

"No more games _child._ You may be his son but you don't hold the same power." The man darted through handseals, "Doton: Doryūsō no Jutsu!" A series of spikes appeared from the floor of the roof, distending the building as they did so. They rose into the air and Naruto's eyes widened in worry. The man flicked his wrist forwards - at Naruto - and the spikes all flew toward the boy. Naruto jumped to avoid the first one and as he landed did a flip into a handstand to avoid another. One impacted his side as he did so but didn't puncture him. The rest all seemed to regather for another assault and Naruto sighed in relief at the respite.

As they began to fly toward him again he flung through his own set of handseals, "Futon: Daitoppa no Jutsu!" A gust of wind gathered in front of Naruto and flew toward the spikes in the air. The two forces met and the spikes soon lost their original path, flying all over the place. Naruto desperately pumped more chakra into the technique to try and push the man over with the gust of wind. He succeeded in projecting the technique further and it looked like it was going to strike the man hard.

"Doton: Doryuuheki no Jutsu!" The man, not using any handseals, spewed mud onto the floor and a wall of earth soon rose up in his defence. The gust of wind bounced off of the imposing defence harmlessly and dispelled soon after, "Pathetic. How are you _his _child?" The man spoke furiously. Before Naruto's eyes the wall opened up slightly and the man flashed through the wall quickly, kunai in his hand. As he ran he threw shuriken at Naruto who quickly flung himself to the left of them to avoid the attack. Panting from exertion, Naruto drew his own kunai and prepared to defend himself. The man arrived quickly and slashed at Naruto's side. The boy quickly blocked the attack with his own blade but wasn't prepared for the man's follow up attack where he pulled another kunai out while still holding his other in the path of Naruto's own. He slashed at Naruto's stomach and the boy could do nothing more than reduce the damage of the attack by pulling back slightly. He still screamed in pain as the blade sliced at his stomach and left a deep cut. The man laughed hollowly and kicked the boy to end the stalemate. Naruto flew backwards and impacted against a wall - tried to get up only to collapse in pain from the wound on his stomach. The man smirked at the boy's form and quickly ran up to the child.

He grabbed him by the throat and raised him to his eye level, "You are such a _disappointment." _He sighed, "No matter. It's time to end this." He drew back his kunai slash Naruto's neck only to hear someone shouting in the background.

"Doton: Yomi Numa no Jutsu!" The voice was furious and unrecognizable to the man. He looked around for the source and his eyes came in contact with the furious black eyes of Jiraiya of the Sannin. The man was positively livid, his white mane of hair tussled and streaked with blood. His clothes apparently hadn't fared any better with big red blotches splashed all over his robes. Before the Iwa-nin could react a small swamp materialised at his feet and held him in place. As this happened the boy he had been holding to advantage of the situation to bite down on his hand. He roared in pain as he dropped the boy. Naruto quickly scrambled away, not that the man could chase him while he was being held down by the swamp.

For the first time during the whole confrontation the man felt fear. "No! You shouldn't be here! Why are you here?!" He screamed angrily.

"You think some revenge-filled shinobi are enough to stop me?" Jiriaya spoke quietly but his voice still reverberated across the rooftop, "You should be thankful I'm stopping you from succeeding. Your death will be much, _much_ faster this way." And with that the older man dashed toward the man locked into place. The Iwa-nin poured all his chakra into his feet and yanked them with all his might. In a fit of desperation he managed to pull free but had used up all his chakra in the attempt. He collapsed for a moment before quickly standing and pulling out two kunai in either hand he slashed at Jiraiya's fast approaching form. The Sannin slapped the first hand away easily and grabbed the other one, bending it at an insane angle. A snap could be heard and the Iwa-nin screamed in pain. As this happened Jiraiya held out one of his hands and began to gather chakra in it. It swirled around in every direction and Naruto stared at it in awe.

He finally drew his hand forward and slammed it into the enemy nin's stomach, "Rasengan!" The reaction from the man was immediate. His eyes widened for a moment before they dulled - his life ending. Jiraiya withdrew his hand and grunted in distaste as the body fell to the floor. He turned to Naruto who was staring in wonder. The man walked over to the seven year old and noticed his stomach wound. He was about to say something about it only to see the chakra of the nine-tails bubbling around the wound and it closing before his eyes. Instead he walked up and knocked the boy on the back of the head.

"I said don't get into trouble brat!" He said it loudly but it held no malice. Naruto merely stared at him with the look he had been holding since his arrival, "Earth to Naruto... Helloooooo?" As he said that Naruto's eyes flickered for a moment before the boy's shoulders shuddered.

"He was going to kill me." It was a small whisper but Jiraiya still heard it.

"Yep." The boy flinched at Jiraiya's callous tone, "But I got him first - like I always do. The fools tried to distract me with a fake contact. Needless to say they won't be doing anything like that again."

"B-But they were missing-nin... What did they want with me?"

Jiraiya's face darkened, "They worked together cohesively and all had the same name. No; they were Iwa shinobi in all but name. Tch! Regardless, we can't do anything about it with that blasted scratch through their headband." Naruto's face dropped slightly at that as he finally realised how much danger he was in from being the son of the Yondaime.

"Why though? Why me?"

"Because your father killed their father, their mother, their sibling and their friends. It's hatred - and a blasted cycle." Although he was talking to Naruto, the Sannin seemed to be in another place, "Don't worry. It's over now. Let's just get you cleaned up and get out of this cursed town." Naruto nodded slowly and walked toward the man. Despite his confusion about the motives of the man he knew one thing;

He needed to get stronger.

* * *

"Naruto stop here for a moment." The boy in question tilted his head slightly. Jiraiya usually didn't call him by his first name, preferring to use brat, kid or other demeaning terms. The blond-haired child realised something was up and so obeyed the man in front of him without question. He moved over to the man and waited for further explanation.

They had been travelling for a day now since the assassination attempt and the older man had preferred to keep things quiet for the trip. This didn't bother Naruto as he had been thinking himself about the attack. The Iwa-nin had revealed to Naruto how truly small he was in the shinobi world. he had been so weak, so insignificant to the man who had in turn been obliterated by Jiraiya. Naruto's respect for the Sannin had gone up a notch afterwards, having seen the raw power of the man._  
_

"Hey brat," Naruto's nose twitched at the return of his nickname, "I think it's time you learnt something." The boy looked up at Jiraiya in keen interest. Maybe he'd teach him that swamp jutsu or that swirling ball...

_"What was it called? Raseng-" _Naruto's thought was cut off by the Sannin.

"I'm going to show you how to summon. Normally I'd wait for a while, years even, before showing you this but I think you deserve a way to contact the village. You seem to have gained a target on your back." The man shrugged, "Anyway, I'm assuming you are familiar with the jutsu?" Naruto nodded, he had seen his father use it on countless occasions and had heard of the legendary Sannin and their three different animal summons. "Then I'll also hazard a guess that you know what animal I can summon?" Naruto nodded again and the man grinned, "Good. That'll speed things up." The man then pulled the giant scroll off his back and unrolled it slightly. He scribbled something on the paper and then beckoned Naruto to come closer.

"This is the Toad Summons Contract. If you sign it you'll be able to summon the creatures - although whether they obey you is entirely up to the toads themselves." He pointed at Naruto's name, "I just wrote up your name so all you need to do is prick your finger and put some blood on it to seal it." At the man's signal Naruto bit his thumb and smeared blood over his name. He waited for some kind of reaction but it seemed to do nothing.

"Nothing happened?" Naruto frowned.

"This let's you summon them, you still have to perform the technique yourself." Jiraiya thought for a moment before adding, "Here are the handseals." He went through them slowly and as soon as Naruto grasped it announced, "Go ahead and try and summon. Pump chakra into the technique - not too much though. I don't wanna have to deal with a grumpy Bunta." Naruto raised his eyebrows at the last comment but chalked it up to Jiraiya's fear of the toad chief's ire. Doing as he was told, Naruto flashed through the seals and slapped his hand on the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto spoke quickly as he pumped chakra into his hands. A black seal erupted on the ground and smoke appeared from it. As the smoke cleared a small orange toad could be seen looking around in confusion. The toad noticed Jiraiya and gave a toothless grin to the man.

"Yo, Jiraiya. Why did ya summon me out here?" The toad greeted the white haired man in confusion.

Jiraiya smiled back, "I didn't summon you, the brat did." He pointed at Naruto as he spoke and the toad turned around to look at him. The seven year old blinked at the toad stupidly, surprised by the success of his jutsu.

"Hah! Don't lie Jiraiya, this pipsqueak is younger then me." Jiraiya merely shrugged at the comment.

"Why would I waste my time summoning someone like you?" He said off-handedly. The toad grew angered by this and looked to start an argument before he suddenly stopped and looked at Naruto again.

"You look similar to the description dad gives of the Namikaze..."

Naruto finally regained his composure and said, "I'm his son."

Gamakichi brightened up and stated, "Yo Namikaze! I'm Gamakichi."

"My name's Naruto." The boy smiled nervously at the summon.

"Don't fret! I always hear dad talking about the blonde haired man. I guess I'll let you summon me then - but you'll have to talk to dad before you can summon the old farts." The toad laughed cynically at this and Jiraiya merely sighed in consternation.

"I'm telling Gamabunta." The old man snickered slightly. The toad paled at that and grew very distressed.

"Not if I get to him first! I'm outta here. Naruto you can summon me whenever. Jiraiya, I'm telling dad you stole his liquor!" The toad grinned slightly at the last bit of the sentence and took even more delight in it as the man in question became incredibly flustered.

"You lying piece of-" Jiraiya didn't get to finish his sentence as the toad disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He sputtered for a second and grumbled under his breath before saying, "Well, it looks like you can summon now. Good job brat." Naruto beamed under the praise - not used to the old man giving out compliments. "Now that you can summon you'll always be able to get in contact with me or your father. When you get the respect of Bunta you'll also be able to summon some of the combat toads and fight with em." Naruto smirked at the thought of his new ability before he was quickly brought back to earth, "Not that you'll be getting his respect any time soon. He only likes strong summoners." Jiraiya giggled at the boy's crestfallen face - he loved teasing the kid. "Now that that's out of the way, let's get back on the road. We don't have time to sit and gawk."

Naruto nodded and followed suit as the Sannin began running.

* * *

"And this report is accurate?" He asked even though he knew the answer. The paper in front of him described Naruto's progress in his time with Jiraiya.

"Yep. Taught him as much as a could in the two years I've had him." Jiraiya's reply was boisterous and if Minato didn't know any better he'd say he heard pride in his tone.

"Good." The Hokage looked up at Jiraiya and smiled, "Thank you sensei." Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head and shrugged.

"Bah! Just don't get used to it! I'm not teaching any more of your brats or anyone else's for that matter." Jiraiya knew Minato would never have another child regardless - he was too committed to the memory of Kushina.

Minato snorted, "I wouldn't want the new generation corrupted any more than they already are."

Jiraiya grinned madly at that, "They aren't being corrupted, they being _exposed._" He grinned at the sexual innuendo before continuing, "So, what's the plan from here? Kakashi gonna have a crack at him?"

Minato sighed at that, "No, Kakashi has deemed it necessary to be part of ANBU and I'm not sure if the past two years of it have had a positive or negative effect on him. Besides, he'd be a useless teacher right now - what with his lack of punctuality." the Namikaze found himself grinning at the last comment. His student sure liked to honour Obito - even if it meant earning the ire of every Konoha shinobi who works with him.

"Hmm? Then who else?" Jiraiya tried to sound as disinterested as possible.

"Someone who has been working under Kakashi actually. You might know of him as Tenzou." Understanding dawned on Jiraiya as Minato spoke. To place the user of the Mokuton with Naruto could only mean one thing.

"So you intend to allow Naruto to harness the chakra of the demon?"

"Not exactly. I want Naruto to experience some missions - it would do good for him to do more than just train - and I know you don't exactly have time to go with him on long trips. Besides, you're more valuable elsewhere."

"Writing my books obviously." Jiraiya grinned at Minato's snort of derision.

"Definitely not. Anyway, if he's going on missions and it can't be me or you with him then the only conceivable person who could prevent the outbreak of the Kyuubi would be Tenzou."

"Are you planning for him to come into contact with the beast?" The darker side of Jiraiya thought that the man was manipulating things to suit his own ends.

"No! If it happens it'll purely be by chance - I'm merely planning for the possibility."

"Let's hope you know what you're doing Minato." He spoke skeptically and it wounded the Hokage to know that his sensei was uncertain about his plan but he ruthlessly cast those doubts aside. He needed to be strong in his convictions - if not for himself then at least for Naruto.

* * *

Tenzou was not an unreasonable man, nor did he see himself as someone easily surprised, but when his Hokage had requested his appearance he had been somewhat _confused_. In his experience as an ANBU member he had hardly ever been called up personally - usually Kakashi or another captain would be told of the mission and he would simply follow orders. Nonetheless, he found himself standing in front of the man with a degree of confusion running through his head.

"Tenzou, shinobi registration number: 010992, ANBU member and Chunin. I have a mission for you."

"Hokage-sama?" Tenzou was nothing if not intrigued._  
_

"It will be long-term, A-rank and low danger. Are you interested?"

Now he was _very _confused, "Hai." What mission required long-term participation but was low in danger?

"Take off your mask." He felt a shiver go down his spine. The removal of an ANBU mask always spelled the end of one's career in the field - whether through promotion, demotion or death. Regardless, he would obey his leader and so quickly removed the offending clothing. Once he did so the man smiled, "Tenzou-san, are you aware of my son?"

"Namikaze Naruto, genin and apprentice to Jiraiya of the Sannin." This was getting weirder every second.

"_Ex_-apprentice now. Good, it seems we have some ground to start from." If Tenzou were one for emotions he would of raised his eyebrow - but he wasn't, "I want you to train my son and, by proxy, lead him in missions." Tenzou felt his metaphorical mouth drop wide open.

"Me?"

Minato smiled slightly, "My son is at a point in his training where his _burden _may make an appearance. Aside from myself and Jiraiya you are the only one equipped to deal with it. It would also do you some good to get out of ANBU."

Tenzou tensed at the end of the comment. It was true; he had been in ANBU for quite some time. "I see - I'd be honoured." Relief flooded through the blonde Hokage's mind, he was worried at first that the stoic ANBU member would refuse.

"Great! For the purposes of the mission you'll go by the name of Yamato." Minato paused for a moment before adding, "I appreciate this, I really do."

The now aptly named Yamato merely nodded in response - for him there was nothing to be thankful about; it was his duty.

"Oh and on your way out don't forget to grab a Jounin vest. You'll need one to be a sensei after all." Minato grinned at the man's shocked expression.

"H-Hokage-sama!" This time, the man showed his surprise.

* * *

Naruto stared at the man in front of him blankly.

"What?"

A man spoke on the left of him, "I said, this is Yamato and he'll be your new sensei."

"But what about Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto panicked as he replied to his father. His usual calm composure thrown out the window at the idea of his world being upturned again. His father had already done it when he was younger and now he was doing it again.

"He's got things to do Naruto. I thought you understood it was only temporary." Minato's gazed softened. His son's reaction wasn't planned for but when he thought about it he shouldn't really be surprised. If you remove a constant part of someone's life they're obviously going to be upset about it - and he'd done it to Naruto twice now.

Naruto's eyes darted between the two adults, "He had so much left to teach me!" His voice was raising and Minato realised that he needed to clamp down on the situation before it got out of hand.

"Namikaze Naruto, stop this nonsense." His voice carried the hardened tone of a man who expected to be obeyed.

Upon hearing his father's voice Naruto stiffened and murmured, "Hai." The conditioning he had gone through as he was younger having kicked in.

Minato's smile quickly returned, "Good. Now, this man," He pointed at the previously forgotten brown-haired man standing in front of Naruto, "Is your new sensei and I expect you to give him the same respect you would myself or Jiraiya. He was a member of ANBU before this and one of the best within that organisation so he has a lot he can teach you. Make sure you pay attention."

The man in question bowed his head in deference to the Namikaze, "You honour me, Hokage-sama." He turned and looked at Naruto, "Hello Namikaze-san." He tried to smile but was worried it came off as fake.

Naruto did his best to smile back although he experienced the same falsity, "Hi, Yamato-sensei." He tested the name on his tongue and found it didn't roll off it too badly. Minato seemed relieved at the previous animosity having disappeared from the room and moved back to seat in his seat.

As he did so he quickly spoke, "You two may leave now. I might suggest some training?" Naruto grinned at that; if there was one thing in the world he enjoyed it was training.

Yamato seemed to notice his smile and said, "That seems reasonable. How about it Naruto-san?" The boy nodded eagerly and so Yamato quickly announced, "By your leave Hokage-sama?"

"Go ahead." Minato replied.

* * *

The two, ex-ANBU member and child of the Yellow Flash, soon found themselves at a remote training ground that was surrounded by a forest. A small river intersected it and there was an opening where the trees thinned. It was here where the two found themselves. Naruto looked around in surprise; he had never seen this place before. Yamato seemed to notice his look and stopped walking.

"This is a training ground known only to ANBU members - we're free to use it off-duty." He explained. The boy nodded vigorously at his explanation and began moving on the spot impatiently, "Why don't we start with some taijutsu. Go through your basic form and I'll watch." The eight year old quickly moved into a wide area and unwrapped his bandages around his arms. As he did so Yamato moved to lean against a tree. The boy soon found himself dancing through the forms under the watchful gaze of the Jounin. As Naruto moved the man's eyes darted around, watching every single twitch of his body. He finished the set he had been doing and Yamato nodded to himself for a moment.

"For the second stance shift your right leg forward slightly - it gives you more balance for a counter-attack." Yamato's voice, though quiet, carried across the clearing and Naruto took them in attentively. The boy nodded in affirmation and quickly corrected his stance before repeating the movement. "That's much better. Now for the sixth stance raise your left arm closer to your chest and turn it inwards more. If you do that your forearm will be a natural protection against any particularly hard punches you have to block hastily." Naruto nodded again and quickly fixed his form.

This was how the two found themselves ten minutes later; Naruto panting from exertion and Yamato occasionally telling him what to fix. Then, the man suddenly decided to end the practice.

"That's enough for now. Let's move onto ninjutsu." As he said that Naruto evaluated the taijutsu training and found himself pleased with the progress. Yamato had corrected much of his blaring mistakes and he found the movements came much more naturally now, "The report given by Jiraiya-sama mentions you have begun your elemental training?"

"Yeah, a few months ago he started me on chakra flow. My element is wind so I've been trying to cut a leaf for a while now."

"And your progress?"

"I've got about halfway but it's still so slow." Naruto whined. It had been a sore point for him for a while now.

"That's very good progress regardless. Some people take years to master their first element." Still, it wasn't time they had so Yamato internally went over the report in his head to look for a solution to the problem. He tried to find something, anything to speed up the process but came up short. He looked at the boy and went through the list of jutsu the report had said he knew. His mind stopped on the clone techniques - kage bunshin in particular - and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Naruto-san, you are familiar with the Kage Bunshin technique are you not?" As he said this the boy nodded.

"Yeah, I couldn't make a normal Bunshin so father taught me that instead."

"Good. Do you understand the inherent abilities of the technique? In particular, the memory retainment?" The boy shook his head confusedly and Yamato reminded himself he was dealing with an eight year old. "When a Kage Bunshin is dispelled it's memories are transferred back to the user, along with it's chakra. This makes it incredibly useful for missions involving espionage or..." He watched as it dawned on the boy, "Training. If one uses clones to train they receive the knowledge that clone gained while it trained, meaning that the time needed to train could be cut drastically."

Naruto grinned outright at that, "I could finish my elemental manipulation!"

"You could." Yamato had to stop himself from smiling with the boy - his joy was infectious, "So let's go ahead and get started. Make 5 clones and get them to start trying to cut the leaf." The boy needed no further prompting as he quickly moved back into the clearing and flashed through handseals.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Five identical copies of Naruto popped into existence and, without a word, went into the forest to grab a leaf. Naruto stopped himself from grinning madly. Training just got a lot easier.

As Yamato watched the boy he felt two chakra signals nearing their area. He tensed slightly; only ANBU members knew of this place and he didn't think any from the organisation liked to use this area. When the two came into sight he quickly relaxed. There was a youth who looked to be a teenager and another around Naruto's age. As they neared the older boy raised his hand in greeting.

"Tenzou-senpai." Naruto looked up at the sound of the voice and then was confused by Yamato's other name.

_"So much for a code-name."_ The ex-ANBU member thought. He replied to the boy, "Hello Itachi." As he said that he took a longer look at the other boy and realised it must of been Itachi's younger brother.

As if detecting his realisation Itachi introduced him, "Sasuke-kun, this is Tenzou; a high-profile ANBU member." Yamato winced slightly at that.

"Ex-ANBU now." Now it was Itachi's turn to be surprised - though he couldn't be sure with the emotionless Uchiha.

"Oh?" He looked over Yamato more closely, "I see. Congratulations on becoming a jounin Tenzou-senpai." The man in question glanced at the Uchiha for a moment. It seemed the boy was as perceptive as ever. He looked over to Naruto who had stopped training in light of the two individuals.

"Naruto-san, this is Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke." The boy nodded in realisation and walked over to the two before smiling.

"Hello!" He grinned at the two of them. It wasn't often he got to see people his own age.

This time, it was Sasuke who spoke up. "Namikaze?"

Naruto nodded, his head bopping up and down quickly, "Yep!" The Uchiha seemed to grow some confidence after that and smiled back softly at the blonde haired child.

"Are you training?" He asked somewhat nervously.

"Yeah! Yamato-sensei is awesome, he only just started teaching me." Naruto gushed out quickly and Yamato, hearing his name, raised one eyebrow at the boy.

"_I'm already awesome? That was quick." _He wondered, although he was pleased if he was honest with himself. As the two boys began to talk to each other over their training he glanced over at the Uchiha who was frowning at Naruto. "Something wrong Itachi?" As soon as the words left his mouth he found himself starring into the cold, emotionless eyes of the teenager. He didn't flinch - he knew the boy was in there deep down, it was just hidden under layers of conditioning.

"I am confused." Yamato found himself raising an eyebrow for the second time today. Confusion wasn't something usually associated with the Uchiha.

"And why might you be confused?" It was a simple question but all he got in response was a flicker of unreadable emotions in the boy's eyes.

"The opinion of the village might suggest a much more, _dark _character than Naruto seems to be displaying," This time Yamato could read the Uchiha's face - he was frustrated. "In fact, I might suggest they are wrong entirely." If it were possible the boy's usual dark gaze became even more grim.

Yamato thought for a moment before adding, "Faith isn't easily gained - yet so easily lost." Itachi nodded in agreement. It seemed the village wasn't as perfect as he had thought it to be. He had lost something in the village; at first he didn't understand the feeling but now Yamato had explained it perfectly. Faith, what an interesting thing.

* * *

As they walked toward the Hokage tower Naruto couldn't help but feel a glimmer of trepidation enter his body - this was his first mission... Well, _real _one anyway. Yamato was walking by his side with his ever present emotionless gaze. As he stared at the man Naruto smiled slightly. They had been training together for a month or so now and the man had been much better than Naruto had ever imagined.

His quiet, commanding eyes had captured Naruto's mistakes on several occassions - something Jiriaya wasn't the best at - and immediately fixed the problem. Whether it was in his taijutsu stance or his handseals the man managed to fix the issue and make Naruto much more proficient. Unlike Jiraiya, who had taught Naruto the basics of his training, he could _see_ his progress with Yamato. The man himself wasn't all that bad once Naruto got used to him. While not very talkative and hard to read the boy found if he was enthusiastic enough he could coax the man out of his shell to a degree. A few times he had even made the man smile which was a huge accomplishment in the boy's eyes.

Naruto shook his thoughts away; they had arrived. They strode through the halls quickly and as they climbed the stairs Naruto could hear the typical whispering happening behind his back. His heightened hearing allowed him to listen to what they called him and he frowned slightly at all the vicious insults. Yamato also seemed to notice it and, when one particular Chunin was too close to the man, he sent a withering gaze that shut the woman up immediately. After that the whispering dulled down and, as they got closer to the Hokage's office, stopped immediately. Naruto silently thanked the man in front of him, thought Yamato would never know his gratification. The ex-ANBU member walked up to the office door and knocked lightly on the wooden frame.

"Enter." A light voice could be heard drifting through the woodwork. The two obeyed quickly and found themselves facing the older Namikaze in the room itself. "So, you think you're ready for a mission do you?" The statement, while directed at both of them, was obviously aimed specifically for Naruto and the boy almost felt like sighing at the man's over-protectiveness. Before he had a chance to reply the man turned instead to the other occupant of the room.

"Do you think he's ready?" The voice, while still charming, carried a hardened edge that demanded honesty.

Yamato, to his credit, only shifted slightly at the gaze, "Hai. I'm pleased enough with his progress to begin taking assignments." The Hokage tilted his head at the last word in the sentence; assignments was the word used in ANBU when it was deemed the mission had to be kept off-the-record. Knowing the man was reminding him of his previous position for a reason Minato sighed in acceptance. The ex-ANBU member should be able to keep his son safe. Key word being _should._

"Very well." He looked down at the pile of paperwork on his desk as he said so, "What exactly do you want?"

"High-conflict, low-contact." Once again Yamato spoke in riddles to avoid Naruto's perceptive ears.

"_So he wants the boy to fight does he?"_ Minato wondered. If he wanted a mission entailing some sort of fight yet wished to avoid shinobi contact then that could only mean one thing; he wanted to expose the boy. Whether to killing or just fighting for your life the man didn't know but he trusted Yamato's judgement. He made an imperceptible nod and began to speak. "I have a C-rank. Some light patrolling at a town that has been complaining about bandit attacks. It's not too far from here, perhaps a day's travel. Do you accept?"

Yamato looked at the boy and, seeing his eager expression, replied, "Hai." Minato grunted in affirmation before grabbing a scroll and throwing it at the man.

"That contains the mission details and a map. I trust you to deal with the situation." He spoke coldly but anyone could see the emotions flickering across his face.

"By your leave, Hokage-sama?"

"Go." As the two turned to leave the man decided to say one last thing, "Naruto," The looked back when he heard his name, "Just... Be careful." The boy nodded vigorously and the man rubbed his temples in frustration. Who knew being a parent was this stressful?

"I'll make you proud!" It was a light comment and one Naruto often said to his father but it put the man's mind at rest. He let them go without any further words.

* * *

They moved through the trees quickly with Yamato leading the charge and Naruto trailing behind slightly. As they darted from branch to branch Naruto decided he'd ask about the mission to find out what exactly they were doing.

"Sensei?" The man slowed so he could be running adjacent to the boy.

"Hai?" Ever the quiet type.

"I was just wondering what the full mission is?'

Yamato seemed to gather his thoughts for a moment before replying, "Well, a small town not far from Konoha has been complaining about a group of bandits attacking. Usually we don't bother because by the time we get there the bandits have either moved on or disbanded but this group seems to be one of the ones that sticks together." At Naruto's visible confusion the man continued, "One in a while a bandit group will stick together for much longer than expected. It's these times that we have to come in and deal with it."

"Deal with it?" While it was a simple question Yamato could read the undercurrents of what the boy wanted to know.

"Kill them." It was a blunt answer but the boy needed to be prepared to do what was necessary. As he spoke Naruto shivered slightly before going tight-lipped. Yamato suddenly felt the need to sigh but decided to let the boy work things out on his own. They continued to travel toward the town and Yamato had a quick look at the location of the sun. _"We should be near the town now." _He realised with a start; they had been travelling for a day and a bit now and from his rough calculation before they left camp this morning they should be at the town by now.

"Sensei!" The boy had stopped running. Yamato quickly ran over to him to inspect what was wrong only to see the boy pointing in a direction to the left of them. As he looked over the way the boy was pointing he saw a roof sticking out of the trees. It seemed the boy had found the village.

"Good job Naruto, that's the town." They changed course in order to head directly toward the town and as they neared Naruto narrowed his eyes. It was less of a town and more of a village - there were very few large structures and most were built out of wood. He also noticed that many had boarded up windows and the villagers who saw them stared in fear. The boy wondered where there were going exactly as the man leading him seemed to have a particular destination in mind. As he pondered on it the man suddenly stopped and Naruto looked around. They were in front of a concrete building - the only concrete building in the town. An elderly man stood outside the front of it and smiled softly at their arrival. Yamato beckoned for Naruto to follow him as he walked casually over to the man.

The man's smile extended into a full grin as they neared and he began to speak, "Ah! You must be the shinobi we sent for! Welcome, welcome." His tone was kind and Naruto immediately felt at ease with the withered man.

"Thank you. My name is Yamato and this here is Naruto - my student." Yamato put on a smile, one that Naruto knew to be fake.

The man looked over at Naruto at this and his grin faltered slightly, "Our problem is a very large one. Are you sure two shinobi are able to handle it?" The man looked deeply at Naruto for a moment before continuing, "Especially one so... Young?" He knew it wasn't meant to be an insult but Naruto still felt his ire rise at the unintentional insult. He hated being underestimated - it just reminded him of his father's unreachable expectations.

Yamato waved off the worry in good nature, "Don't worry...?"

"Daichi." The man answered his unspoken request for a name.

"Don't worry Daichi-san. A group of bandits won't be any trouble for a jounin," Naruto knew it wasn't arrogance, it was fact. "And my student is a little more than just your everyday child." Naruto's eyebrows rose at the small compliment.

"Yes but he so very young..." The older man didn't seem to find comfort in Yamato's description of the sun-kissed boy.

"Perhaps an introduction is in order then?" Yamato beckoned for Naruto to come stand in front of him, "Naruto, introduce yourself - in full please."

Naruto bowed low and spoke quietly, "Hello Daichi-san." The elderly man seemed intrigued at his manners and so motioned for the boy to continue, "My name is Namikaze Naruto." The man's eyes widened suddenly - everyone knew of the man who held Namikaze as a last name and it appeared he had made the connection. If Naruto was a little bit more obnoxious he would of laughed in mirth at the reaction. He _hated _relying on his father's reputation - it just revealed how far behind he was the man.

"W-well I do say! I apologise for my earlier statement. It appears we're in good hands." Naruto wanted to sigh out loud but managed to restrain himself and instead let his dark thoughts swirl in his head as the two adults spoke. Before he could allow himself to wallow in anger for too long he felt a hand on his shoulder. He realised in surprise that it was Yamato's. The man had sensed his anger and was squeezing his shoulder as a way of comfort. Naruto soon reined in control of his emotions and smiled slightly instead.

"So, now that everyone understands each other, why don't you explain your problem in more detail?" The elderly man looked at Yamato in confusion before he seemed to come to his senses.

"Ah! Yes! Well we've been having some bandit attacks recently. Usually we just drive them off and they don't bother us again but these have been particularly bad." The man spoke incredibly quickly, as if he was going to run out of time to talk.

"How so?"

"Well, they seem to be _organised_." Yamato frowned at that. The only reason a bandit group would be organised is if someone was controlling them. Now, considering most bandits were second-rate warriors they usually killed anyone who tried to take over for too long. So for them to still be organised meant that someone particularly powerful was controlling them.

"Where can we find them?" It wasn't meant to be a command but Naruto still felt the steely tone in his teacher's voice.

"We don't know exactly but we think they've set up camp somewhere north of the town. It wouldn't be too far, maybe a few kilometres - they think they're untouchable." Yamato nodded briefly at the man; most bandits had little sense of self-preservation. To camp so near to their victims wasn't very surprising.

"Very well. Thank you for the information, we'll take it from here."

The man smiled at his reply and quickly announced as the two shinobi turned to leave, "Good luck!"

No reply was needed - they didn't need luck.

* * *

Both of them were looking at the camp silently, taking in stock of the situation. Naruto tried to count the number of bandits but gave up when a few more showed up from the distance. Instead, he tried to locate their supposed leader and found himself failing at that too. He felt like raising his hands up in exasperation when the face of Yamato appeared out of the tree next to him. He would of screamed in surprise but he had finally grown used to the man's Mokuton ability and so merely raised an eyebrow at the wood-clone's appearance.

"Twenty-seven bandits. A man with a notable chakra signal sleeping in the tents - probably the leader." The disjointed speech was a clear sign Yamato was in mission-mode, he only spoke the essentials and expected Naruto to fill in the blanks, "Create 10 Kage Bunshin. Spread them out among the forest. On the signal attack."

"Signal?" Naruto mentally slapped himself at the sound of his voice - it was tight and stressed.

"A tree shall sprout in the centre. It will be obvious enough." Naruto nodded at that and prepared himself for the fight. He whipped through the famous handseals that produced his clones.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." He whispered the name of the technique and the clones appeared - this time without smoke. He had expended slightly more chakra for each to appear silently but it was worth it. Without a word the ten clones disappeared into the forest - their orders already set. The boy himself checked his supplies. Kunai? Check. Shuriken? Check. Clones? Check. He sighed deeply - he was ready.

"Naruto?" The clone was still attached to the tree and Naruto's head whipped back around, "Aim to kill." The boy shuddered at that. He had yet to kill and it terrified him. He wasn't entirely comfortable withe the idea of extinguishing another person's life but he shook his head to dismiss the thoughts. These men had chosen their path, just like he had chosen his; to be a shinobi - a killer. The clone watched his internal conflict silently and, seeing Naruto's resolve, began to dissolve.

It said one last thing as it disappeared, "Good luck."

This time Naruto didn't ignore the words, luck sounded like a good thing to have on his side right now. He tensed his muscles and readied himself for the signal. He waited for what seemed like an eternity before, suddenly, a huge tree sprouted in the centre of the bandit camp. It's branches began whipping out and mercilessly smashing into bandits. Screams erupted everywhere as men became aware of the tree's presence while their comrades woke from their slumber. Naruto sprang into action and ran down the tree he had been sitting on. While sprinted he drew out two kunai in each hand. As he neared the camp he threw one at the distracted guard who now had his back turned. It pierced the man's shoulder and he let out a wail. Naruto would of looked up in fear of discovery but that seemed negligible now as his clones all appeared from the trees, committing acts similar to what he had done. As the man writhed in pain Naruto quickly neared him and watched his body rolling around the floor. Wordlessly, the boy threw another kunai at the man. This one struck his heart and the man stopped moving immediately - dead. The lifeless eyes looked up into the sky and Naruto felt a pang in his heart but before he could ponder on it he had to dodge the attacks of another man. He was wielding a sword and had seen Naruto kill the man.

Fury blazed in his eyes as he stepped forward toward the boy. Around them screams were still going on, whether being caused by Naruto's clones or the huge tree that was still smothering men with it's imposing branches was unimportant. Suddenly, the man sprinted at Naruto and swung his sword. The boy blocked it with a newly drawn kunai before kneeing the man in the stomach. As he did so Naruto slashed with the kunai at the man's throat. Blood spurted out of the wound and hit Naruto in the faced. He recoiled in shock but quickly wiped his face. He stepped over the second body and ran toward the centre of the camp. He soon found himself in the thick of the action, his clones fighting the bandits on one side and Yamato sweeping around and controlling his tree deftly on the other. A clone dispelled and Naruto gained his memories. Three bandits had overwhelmed it and attacked it at once. Naruto shivered slightly at the memory before moving toward the location of it's death. He found the bandits who seemed incredibly confused by the clone's disappearance. He slammed into the back of one of them and slit his throat before he could react.

The other two jumped back in surprise and then horror when they realised what he had done. The two regained their senses and ran at Naruto. The boy avoided the first bandit's sword and, using the momentum of the attack, pushed him into the other. The two collided and groaned in pain. Naruto quickly grabbed one of the dropped swords near them and stabbed at the two of them on the floor. He heard, rather then felt, the impact of sword on flesh. A large squelch entered the air as he withdrew the sword from the man's body. The other bandit, a young woman, recoiled at her comrade's death in horror. Before she could react Naruto was upon her and the ground was soon coated in her blood. The boy stood from the scene of the deaths and turned to help finish off the now largely diminished force of bandits but before he could he heard a voice from behind him.

"Now, now, now. What is this?" A tall man stood at the entrance to a tent and Naruto realised with a start that it was the person with the strong chakra signal from earlier; the _leader_. The man was looking at the devastation being caused by Naruto and Yamato and his face set into a grim line, "And I was just getting comfortable. Oh well, I guess I'll just kill you tree-huggers and then find something else to do with my time." He looked at Naruto at this, "You'll be the first to die brat." He stepped forward toward the blonde.

Naruto felt his presence and didn't grow worried. The man was low-chunin level at best and, while Naruto wasn't sure on his own power level exactly, knew that he could at least hold the man until Yamato was done with the other bandits. Instead, he felt calm wash over his body in preparation for the battle that was about to start.

The man looked at him through narrowed eyes and spoke coldly, "It seems your pathetic village has finally grown some balls. Starting one so young is so very _unlike _them." The man scoffed, "Hypocrites. No matter, let's finish this already." At that he sprung forward and Naruto found himself defending a barrage of punches. He dropped the sword, the blade forgotten in favor of batting away the strong hits toward his head and stomach. Suddenly the man slipp through his defences and landed a hit in his stomach. Naruto reeled from the pain but instead of allowing a follow-up strike moved to the left and, as the man lost balance, brought a vicous uppercut into the man's mouth. It seemed to be effective as the man tumbled to the floor before regaining his senses. He spat out some blood and snarled in anger.

Instead of continuing his assault the man began to go through a set of handseals, "Raiton: Gian no Jutsu!" The man's mouth opened suddenly and Naruto stared in abject horror as he seemed to vomit a spear of lightning toward him. He had no time to go through handseals and so he did the first thing he could think of. Pulling out a kunai, he tried desperately to gather wind chakra around it's blade. While he had been training extensively in his element Naruto didn't think he was quite proficient enough in it to make sure he could gather it every time but now he had to hope that he was successful.

The lightning blade reached his kunai and with a clash it suddenly struck an invisible wall. Naruto gritted his teeth against the strength of the technique but pushed more of his own chakra into his elemental manipulation. As he did so the lightning was suddenly overwhelmed - unable to put up a fight against it's natural weakness of wind. The wind however didn't stop and instead flew off the kunai, heading straight toward the enemy nin. It struck the man quickly and at first nothing seemed to happen. Then the man keeled forward and coughed up blood. His shirt split in half to reveal a huge, jagged cut appear on his chest. He fell to the floor and groaned in agony.

"H-How?" The man whispered - his time was up and he knew it. Naruto didn't reply to the question and instead strode over to the writhing body. If he wasn't about to end the man's life he would of laughed in contempt. What sort of shinobi would leave his village as a chunin. Instead of laughing Naruto simply looked at the man's pleading eyes silently. Ignoring the unspoken request for mercy he quickly brought the kunai down on his throat and, without even a gurgle, the man was dead. Blood seeping out of his now open throat. The boy dropped his kunai as the adrenaline wore off and it was only then that he realised Yamato had been watching since the man had fallen over. Bandits were piled everywhere, their blood staining the floor. Weapons laid discarded along the ground, whether shinobi or bandit. Yamato slowly walked over to Naruto and gently guided the child away from the body of the dead shinobi.

"Come on, it's time to go." Naruto looked at him as he spoke and nodded in affirmation. No words were spoken as they left the scene of the crime, returning to the town. None were needed, Yamato was content to let the silence linger and Naruto was thinking over the battle.

* * *

They soon arrived at the concrete building and, with the sun slowly rising behind them, knocked on the door. It quickly opened to reveal a young woman.

She looked at their blood-stained attire in shock before suddenly shouting out, "Daichi! The nin are back." Before Yamato could speak she spoke quickly, "Come in, let's get you cleaned up." At their confusion she smiled softly, "This is a safehouse for travellers - and friends. Now quick, let's get you in here." The two slowly entered and Yamato looked at Naruto questioningly but the boy was simply staring at the floor in deep thought. He didn't get a chance to think on it before the elderly man from earlier appeared.

"Ah! Yamato-san, Naruto-san!" He took note of their appearance but to his credit didn't pause for very long, "It appears you've _encountered_ our problem. I trust nothing went wrong?" His voice, while charming, hinted at worry._  
_

"A low-level shinobi was leading the force but he was disposed of. The payment may needed to be raised - Hokage-sama will contact you if so." The elderly man took the news in stride and nodded slowly, "Otherwise, the bandits have been dealt with and you shouldn't have any trouble."

"Excellent, excellent! Thank you so much, we'll forever be in your debt." The man gushed out his words but Yamato waved him away.

"We're just doing our duty. We take comfort in the knowledge that what we've done has helped." To be honest, Yamato didn't care but the words were more for Naruto than anything. It seemed that the boy didn't notice though and instead he just dealt with a gracious old man.

"Well regardless, feel free to stay for however long you want!" The man wrinkled his nose at their clothes, "If you wish you may clean yourselves up as well." Yamato looked down at his uniform and came to a decision.

"We appreciate the offer - We'll clean ourselves up and be on our way." He smiled at the man - it was fake of course. It was always fake.

* * *

"Yamato-sensei?" The voice was quiet, incredibly so. Yamato had to focus his ears to hear the boy entirely. He looked at the child in confusion, they had stopped to sleep on their way back to Konoha and the boy had been quiet. While Naruto wasn't the most talkative in the village around other people when it was just the two of them he usually was an energetic, happy child. Yamato had found he enjoyed the boy's positive attitude more and more as they were with each other and so it had worried him when Naruto had become so quiet after the bandits.

"Yes Naruto?"

The boy scrunched his face up and seemed like he wasn't going to speak when he suddenly said, "Why do we have to kill?" Ah, it was _that _conversation. He had been waiting for the reaction to his first kill and it seemed like the boy was finally opening up, "I mean, why us and not them?"

Yamato sighed, "You saw that town and it's people? Well those bandits were stealing and killing in that town. So much so the town had to call for help. The bandits knew they couldn't fight back and so they preyed on the weak. We were employed to prevent them for ever doing that again. They had _chosen _their path - one of darkness." Naruto seemed confused at this and so Yamato continued, "As shinobi of Konoha it is our job to protect the weak and to serve the village. The town was weak and the village wanted us to save them. So we followed orders no?" Naruto nodded at this, "Those bandits had no honor, no code and no one to fight for. They needed to be _put_ down." It was a dark description but Yamato wasn't one to mince words, "And when it comes down to it, I will always, always place the innocent above the corrupted. Remember that Naruto - it's important."

"But what about us, we're not innocent?" The boy pleaded.

"We fight for the innocent - and for each other." Naruto tilted his head slightly at this, "I would gladly give my life for a comrade. That's not so hard to understand is it?" Naruto nodded vigorously, "Well, I would also kill for a comrade. Sometimes you have to kill, it's not pretty but it's necessary."

The boy seemed to sag at this, "I think I understand sensei." Yamato laughed softly.

"You don't really - don't worry, you will one day and until that day I'll protect you."

"W-What?"

"Don't be surprised. After all, you're my most important comrade."

* * *

**A/N: Whoa, big update but you know what? YOLO.**

**Make sure to keep updated cause next chapter... Well, let's just say shit is gonna hit the fan.**


	4. Training Arc: By His Own Hand

**The Shadow Of A Flash**

_Chapter 4: By His Own Hand_

* * *

As he stood in front of the Hokage - his father - he shifted on his feet slightly. He couldn't deny he was nervous, it was his first mission debriefing after all. Yamato stood to his right with that damnable calm demeanor of his and not for the first time Naruto wondered whether the man used a jutsu to keep his emotions in check. While they waited for his father to speak he rubbed his leg subconsciously; Yamato hadn't given them time to rest when they returned, favoring an immediate debriefing instead. This left Naruto in a state of aching as he felt like every muscle in his body was on fire.

"Report." Minato's voice pierced the air.

"Jounin Yamato and genin Namikaze Naruto returning from their duties." This time it was Yamato's cold voice that carried across the room.

"Details please." It wasn't really a request.

"On the second day of travelling we arrived in the town. Upon speaking with an elder there we were informed roughly of the location of the bandits. We soon scouted the area and, after assessing the camp that the bandits had made, performed a frontal assault." Naruto almost snickered at that, the tree appearing in the middle of the camp was hardly _frontal, _"Myself and Naruto engaged with the enemy from multiple directions through the use of clones and my own personal techniques. The number of opponents was quickly reduced before the leader, a low-chunin level missing-nin, appeared." Minato's eyes narrowed imperceptibly and Yamato almost hesitated in continuing.

"I was otherwise detained from engaging with him. Fortunately Naruto was in a position to deal with him and did so rather easily." Naruto looked at him in surprise, it hadn't exactly been _easy, _"The enemy forces were soon dealt with. All have been neutralized - permanently." He spoke the last part with emphasis. Minato caught on easily enough and one could see the relief coursing through his body if they looked closely enough.

"Good job. Due to the unforeseen circumstance of an enemy shinobi the mission pay-grade will be risen to B-rank. You two performed admirably in the face of conflict and served your village well - dismissed." Yamato nodded in confirmation and turned to leave. Naruto began to follow before hearing Minato speak again, "Remain behind Naruto." Without a look back Yamato continued out of the room.

"Father?" They were no longer in the presence of others so Naruto allowed the formality to drop slightly. The man, to his credit, smiled at being addressed.

"We seem to already be approaching that time of the year again." Naruto's head tilted in confusion at that, "The day itself however is not one I would like to spend celebrating. So, how about we do it a week before?" Naruto suddenly realised, it was his birthday in a few weeks. A grim line set on his face. The day of his birth, his mother's death and the Kyuubi attack was _not _a day of celebration at all.

"Hai, I think I'd like that." They never usually got to celebrate his birthday so Naruto was thankful for the man's offer.

Minato smiled at his son, "Good! It's settled then." As Naruto prepared to leave the man suddenly grew a horrified expression before it turned into one of resignation, "I guess I should ask... You don't want to have a _party_ do you?" Naruto would of laughed at the man's terrified face if it weren't so outrageous. His father _hated _big parties. While a part of Naruto would of liked to have a gathering - probably inherited from his mother - his more sensible side - definitely inherited from his father - realised it would be stupid. He didn't exactly have the most friends to begin with anyway.

He shook his head vigorously, "No thanks." The man's relief could literally be felt and his shit-eating grin was evidence enough alone, "Besides, wouldn't want the village to find out their leader was scared of a _party _would we?" Naruto smirked viciously at his father. The man sputtered in outrage, at a loss for words, before he suddenly smiled and ruffled Naruto's hair affectionately.

"You are so _her_." Minato's reminiscing smile was evidence enough for Naruto to know who he was thinking of.

* * *

The two of them stood at the front entrance of their home, having just exited. Minato took in a breath of the fresh air of the forest before he turned to his son and beckoned for the boy to follow. They began the leisurely walk toward the centre of the village and as they did so Minato inspected his child. walking with his hands in his pockets, the almost nine year old was a spitting image of himself when he was younger - aside from the vicious whisker marks on both cheeks. Evidence of muscle development could be seen and the way he held his walk showed evidence of shinobi training. While not as alert and suspicious as the more experienced shinobi of Konoha, he walked with a tense gait that Minato suspected he had picked up from Yamato.

"So Naruto, how are you finding Yamato?" He used the codename, for Naruto's sake - it was what he called the man.

"He is _interesting_." The way the boy paused to find the appropriate word put a smile on Minato's face. The man was nothing if not interesting.

"How so?"

"He's always so distant, so cold, but sometimes he shows this fierceness," The boy shuddered slightly, "It's scary." Minato raised his eyebrows at that, he hadn't seen Tenzou in such a way, "On the way back from our mission we talked about teammates and he was so... So passionate." Ah, that was it. Yamato, while at first glance uninterested in the people around him, was incredibly protective of his own. He would sooner die then let someone under his care fall.

"Yes, the man is like that, a valuable trait. What about his training?"

This time Naruto did more then shiver; he radiated fear, "He's a monster. A slavedriver." At Minato's skeptical face the boy added quickly, "But in a good way! He pushes me so hard, harder then I thought possible, and then he just stops - right when I can't go on any longer." Naruto smiled at a memory of the man standing over his exhausted figure popped up, "He's done so much for me though. He's been great." Minato positively grinned at that. He knew he had made the right decision, Jiraiya could go suck it.

"That's comforting - the second part I mean." He added the last bit of the sentence at Naruto's horrified expression and almost laughed out loud at his son. He stopped however when he realised they were near their destination, "Come on, Ichiraku's is near here." Naruto's mind was quickly distracted and he followed his father as they walked toward the ramen bar.

As they neared gasps could be heard coming from the villagers nearby.

_"T-That's Hokage-sama!"_

_"The Yondaime! And his... Son."_

_"He's already a genin? Can he really be trusted...?"_

Minato's eyes narrowed while Naruto simply sighed in acceptance. He had long since grown used to the villager's anger and had learnt to simply ignore it. Unfortunately Minato wasn't exposed to it as often and usually exploded at the people who were being so callous around their leader. Naruto quickly tugged at his father's shirt and the man looked down at him.

"D-Dad," Minato paid more attention - Naruto never called him 'dad' anymore, "Please not here, not today." He felt the need to scowl at his child but contained himself and nodded slowly. If he didn't want him to stand up for him then fine, he wouldn't. He turned toward the ramen stand and walked briskly toward it, cloak billowing behind him. Naruto followed behind him and they soon found themselves sitting on the seats. It was a ritual of sorts, Minato would take the seat second from the right and Naruto would take the one on his left. It was where Kushina had sat when they visited the stand. A pang struck in his heart at name but he ignored it and smiled at Naruto as he began to speak.

"Order anything you'd like - it's your day after all." Naruto nodded eagerly and as Teuchi, the owner, appeared out of nowhere the boy positively beamed.

"Naruto-kun! How nice to see you. What can I get you?"

"One miso please!" The boy's enthusiastic request could be heard across the ramen stand.

"Straight away then!" The man seemed to notice Naruto's company and his eyes widened, "H-Hokage-sama!"

Minato waved away his surprise, "Pah! You've known me for so long, I think Minato is sufficient." At the older man's grinning response Minato quickly added, "I'll have a miso too." The man nodded in approval and shouted into the back of the stand, "Ayame! Two miso!" A small 'eep' could be heard and then a crash of plates. The man sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "Eat at your own peril - she's still learning to cook." He shivered slightly in horror but Minato knew he was joking, any daughter of Teuchi would be incredibly talented at cooking.

"I think I'm willing to risk it." Minato spoke in amusement and his son nodded his head in agreement.

"Any ramen is better then no ramen!" The boy spoke in a hurried tone. Minato almost wanted to hit the boy in exasperation, there was such a thing as being _too _keen for food.

_"Damned Kushina and her unhealthy genes."_ Minato thought in frustration, _"And expensive genes at that!" _The man was watching Naruto devour the newly placed food in front of him and waiting for the second order to be requested. The boy seemed to notice his gaze and paused while eating.

"Father?" He was confused by Minato's looks.

"I'm just... Thinking." The boy was now completely out of his wits, having no clue what was going on. Instead of trying to work it out however, the boy simply returned to eating. As the child scoffed down his food Minato continued to watch him, momentarily forgetting the troubles of the village.

* * *

The eleven year old darted down the stairs, grabbing his headband as he passed it. While fastening it around his forehead he pushed the door leading to the training ground outside open and walked toward a figure standing in the distance. Trees surrounded him and as Naruto neared the man's sun-kissed hear shone brightly. He walked up to his father with a grin on his face - he loved training.

The man noticed his approach and smiled, "Good, you're here. Now, it's been a while since I've taught you anything," too long by Naruto's standards - at least 4 years. "But I've decided you're finally ready for something." The boy got giddy at that, "Are you familiar with my Rasengan?" It was a stupid question, the boy had tried to copy it religiously for the last 11 years of his life, "I'm just going to assume you are."

Naruto nodded quickly, "Yeah I saw Jiraiya-sensei use it a while back!" Minato looked at his happiness in amusement.

"Well, as I'm sure you've just guessed, I've decided it's time you learnt it." The man pulled out a water balloon suddenly and threw it lightly at the boy. Naruto caught it deftly and looked at him in confusion, "Before you can pull off the technique you have to learn it in stages. This," He pulled out another water balloon, "Is stage one." At that the balloon suddenly contorted in different directions before exploding. Naruto looked at the ball in amazement - that had _just _been chakra power.

"How did you do that?" He asked softly.

"Nah-uh-uh! That's part of the training." The man grinned, "You're a smart boy - you'll figure it out." Naruto smirked in reply, figure it out he would. Without even so much as a second glance at his father he began thinking about how the man could have possibly done it. Minato, realising his deep concentration, let him be and walked away from the training ground. It wouldn't be too long now.

* * *

"Another so soon? Are you sure..." There was hesitance in the man's voice, "He can handle it?" Yamato spoke slowly and guardedly. As Minato listened he looked in surprise at the ex-ANBU member's caution. Tenzou was not one to decline a mission out of fear.

Regardless, Minato nodded and addressed his concerns, "Yes, absolutely. Naruto needs to learn what a longer mission is like. Besides, I doubt you'll encounter much trouble - it's only border patrol for two weeks. If you have any problems there should be another team nearby monitoring the border as well." He thought that was dissuade the man's fears and was pleased when he saw the man's fearful expression - if you could call it an expression - drop.

He threw a scroll at the man, "Hokage-sama?"

"The details for the mission are in there. I don't have time to debrief Naruto personally." The man paused for a moment before grabbing another scroll from the desk and giving it to Yamato, "That's for Naruto's training. Due to the circumstances of the mission he hasn't been able to complete his training with me. Ensure he finishes it on the trip." It was cruel really when he thought about; making the boy achieve the Rasengan in only two weeks. But he was _his _son and he'd be damned if the boy had it any easier.

"Hai. By your leave, Hokage-sama?" Formalities ever present for the man.

Minato sighed and rubbed his temple, "Yes, yes. Off you go now." The ex-ANBU member needed no further motivation and with a swish of leaves he had left the office. The Hokage, now alone, allowed his stress to show and sunk into his chair dejectedly. He hated giving his son missions; the worry and torment of what could happen harassed him, endlessly, but it was a necessary thing - for the child's progression.

* * *

Naruto had been walking past the academy when he heard it; a small cry of help. He changed direction as his interest was piqued in whatever was causing the shout of pain. He soon found himself at a nearby playground where he saw three boys perhaps a little older than him - twelve or thirteen - surrounding a younger boy who seemed about the age of six or seven. They appeared to be bullying the child who was now crying from the torment. Upon seeing the scene Naruto clicked his tongue in distaste before walking toward them with his hands in his pockets.

"Hi!" He spoke with a smile on his face although it didn't reach his eyes. The three bullies looked up from their victim and sneered at Naruto, "I saw this from afar and it looked like a fun game! What are you playing?"

The three bullies laughed with mirth before one of them, a brute of a child, stood forward saying, "This brat always babbles about how strong he is so we're just putting him in his place." At this he pointed at the seven year old who was looking up at Naruto in fear. As the boy's scarf billowed in the wind Naruto smiled softly to try and reassure him before hardening his gaze toward the bullies.

"Well he doesn't look like he's having fun..." He gestured at the terrified child, "So how about you stop it?" The boys all laughed at his suggestion.

"And why would we listen to a kid like you?" It was the same kid, the ringleader it seemed.

As he spoke another of the three stepped forward, "He has a headband Kenta..." The boy was perceptive, "He's a shinobi."

The boy turned to his friend and snorted, "He's even younger than us! The kid probably stole it." He looked back at Naruto, "Now, you gonna leave or do I have to make ya?"

Naruto giggled softly at this, "There's no need for such petulance. How about you go your way and I go mine?"

"A fight it is!"

Before he could step forward however his friend from before rose his voice, "Kenta... I'm pretty sure that's Namika-"

"I don't give a shit what his name is!" At this he roared and stepped forward to take a swing at Naruto. The eleven year old sighed and sidestepped the punch before, with his hands still in his pockets, raising a vicious knee into the boy's face. As the boy fell the other bully - who had stayed quiet during the confrontation - suddenly stepped forward to attack Naruto. As he swung the blond rose his foot into the boy's face and made him flip backwards. Both Kenta and his friend were rolling on the floor clutching their noses and the other bully, the cautious one, looked at Naruto in fear.

"Go away. And take that scum with you." Naruto spoke coldly and spat at the floor of Kenta in particular. The last bully standing needed no further warning and nodded in terror. He quickly grabbed his friends and dragged them away, leaving a trail of blood from their noses behind them. Naruto finally turned his attention to the child on the floor only to see the kid staring at him in amazement.

"You okay?" He spoke softly to the six year old who sported bruises all over his body. The boy seemed to ignore his question and instead stood with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"That was awesome! Who are you?!" The boy was so happy Naruto couldn't help but smile back.

"Naruto."

"I'm Konohamaru! Pleased to meet ya!" He thrust his hand out at the blond who could only stare at it in amusement. As soon as he took it the boy's grin seemed to grow even wider, "Then it's settled! From now on you're gonna be my sensei, Naruto-niisan!" Naruto barely had time to react to the first statement before he realised the child already considered him his brother.

"Nani?" His confusion did nothing to dissuade the boy's resolve as he dragged the blond away to a training ground to _teach _him. Before they could get far however a small messenger bird suddenly flew down and landed on Naruto's shoulder. Letting go of Konohamaru's hand, he quickly snatched the message off the bird's leg and read it. His eyes widened slightly and he looked at the boy in front of him apologetically.

"Sorry Konohamaru-kun," Hey, if the could wanted to be informal he could be too! "It seems I have a mission. Maybe next time?"

The boy looked dejected before he quickly shouted, "You mean _definitely _next time!"

* * *

"Is something wrong Naruto?" Yamato's calming voice carried a tinge of worry that was unbecoming of the emotionless man. He stood in front of the boy in question near one of the gates of Konoha as the child perused the mission scroll. He had recently begun allowing the boy to read the mission statements as a way for him to gain experience and understand the responsibility he would inevitably face when he was older. It seemed that Naruto had become disturbed by the scroll in front of him however and so the man found himself voicing his concerns.

Naruto himself had read the scroll with no small amount of trepidation. They were to travel to the north-east border of Konoha and patrol a particular area of it for a small period of around one to two weeks depending on when relief arrived. Due to the small size (only Naruto and Yamato) of their squad they were expected to immediately signal for help if they came up against overwhelming odds. Otherwise - it was their responsibility to deal with whatever issues came up. For some reason though, he found himself uneasy with their assignment.

"Not precisely. Something just feels... Off about this mission," The eleven year old spoke nervously, "It's like I have this dark feeling in the pit of my stomach."

Yamato grinned at him - a real smile. "Don't let your emotions rule your mind too much, it's probably nothing." The man said so to try and calm the child down and so felt a degree of relief when the boy nodded in acquiescence.

"Yeah I guess..."

"Let's get going anyway, we're a bit behind schedule as it is." Yamato announced off-handedly.

"Hai." The two turned toward the imposing gates in front of them and began a leisurely walk out of the village - they wouldn't travel fast until they were in somewhat dangerous territory. As they walked Naruto withdrew a rubber ball from his bag and began to concentrate avidly on it. Yamato watched in keen interest at the action.

"What, exactly, is that for?" His voice held a tone of amusement, "I didn't pick you to be someone who enjoyed such _frivolous _things."

Naruto grew horrified at the suggestion that he was going to use the rubber ball for some sort of childish prank and quickly stated, "That's a bit uncouth - even for me! No, it's to do with my father's training." He absentmindedly patted the scroll Yamato had handed him earlier that contained information on how to learn the Rasengan as a way to reinforce what he said.

"Sure, sure." The ex-ANBU member seemed to get the message and raise his hands in a sort of mock surrender.

Sometimes Naruto wished the man was as emotionless as he used to be.

* * *

The two walked along the treeline slowly with Naruto grinning like a madman from the progress he had achieved with his Rasengan training. Just last night as the two sat by a fire Naruto had finally managed to pop the rubber ball. This, according to his father's scroll, signaled the end of his second stage of learning and now all that was left was combining the two stages together. And so here he was, hand out in front of him, trying to claw the chakra together in the correct way. He was so close he could _feel_ it. He would almost have it perfect and then it would dissipate harmlessly just before success. Yamato, to his credit, watched the events unfold with no small amount of amusement. It was always entertaining to watch the boy struggle ruthlessly with an objective until success.

"So, the off-spring imitates the parent - how _very _interesting." It was a cold voice, one that immediately put the two of them on edge. They both drew kunai at the sudden interruption, with Yamato wondering how the man who was speaking could possibly have snuck up on them. A figure appeared before them out of thin air wearing a black cloak with red clouds emblazoned on it and a enigmatic orange mask to hide his face. Perhaps most curious of all was the single eyehole in the mask itself. He walked with a relaxed gait and seemed amused by their reactions to his presence.

"Do you fear me, progeny of Senju?" He was laughing at Yamato's reaction to his presence; that much was obvious, "How entertaining!" The man's face was shrouded in darkness by the cloak and so Yamato was unable to see the madly spinning red eye staring out of the mask's hole. The man began to approach them and Yamato tensed in preparation to defend Naruto if need be. "That's good. Your fear is well-founded." Without warning the man disappeared before suddenly reappearing in front of Yamato. He struck out viciously with a leg and sent the man flying before he turned to face Naruto.

"Who are you?!" Naruto screamed as terror gripped his heart. The man's presence suffocated the eleven year old, forcing him to his knees.

"I am your master." The tone was so self-assured that for a moment Naruto felt anger rise in himself from the arrogance of the man. Grasping hold of the emotion, the boy struck forward at the man with a kunai in his hand. The blade was blocked easily by the man and Naruto soon found himself flying across the treeline from another kick. He landed next to Yamato with a loud thud and climbed to his feet slowly. The ex-ANBU member had already stood and seemed to be looking for their opponent.

"No more games. Let's begin." And then, like a predator stalking his prey, he was upon them.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto's voice glided across the forest as five pops signified Naruto's success in the technique. As they charged the man however they were all cut down in seconds and Yamato, who had been trying to lock the man into a wooden prison, found his technique alight from some sort of vicious katon jutsu. The two fought savagely; Naruto was creating clones as fast as he lost them while Yamato tried to hit the man with his Mokuton abilities to no avail. The masked-nin laughed mercilessly at their pathetic attempts and instead copied Naruto's own technique, summoning his own Kage Bunshin to combat the boy's. While this happened he jumped from side to side to avoid the wood trying to pierce him. And then - he stopped.

"Enough." He spoke it coldly and as he said so he suddenly disappeared.

Naruto whipped his head around in confusion only to suffer a vicious kick into his chest as the man suddenly appeared in between the two leaf-nin. Before Yamato could react he too was launched in a completely different direction as the man saw fit to grab his arm and fling him away. With the two now separated Naruto groaned and tried to stand up. He knew he was no match for the shinobi facing him and so looked in the man's eyes with no small amount of fear when the masked-nin appeared in front of him. The man held the gaze for a moment, seemingly inspecting Naruto's resolve.

And then suddenly the entire world shook. Naruto desperately tried to rub his eyes as the forest surrounding him dissolved into a blur. He tumbled slightly and a knot of fear grew in his stomach as he was hit by the ghastly ninjutsu. He tried to push forwards, toward the cloaked figure in front of him, only to fall to his knees. The man began to walk toward him slowly and the light flickered off the reflection of his dark, organge mask. Before he could near however a tree suddenly appeared to block his path, smashing into the masked-nin. As it happened Naruto felt his senses attain balance once again and he no longer saw in the blur he had moments ago. He silently thanked Yamato - his saviour - before darting toward where the figure was knocked by the tree. He followed the damage and found the man climbing out of a crater slowly.

His attention was obviously drawn elsewhere as he looked around desperately for the source of the tree. It was then that Naruto realised what he could do. Summoning up as much courage as he could muster he willed himself to try to _sneak _up on the man. As he did so he held his right hand out and drew chakra into it. A small whirling blue ball of pure chakra began to form and, as the sound of the jutsu finally became audible, Naruto ran recklessly at the man. The masked-nin turned around in surprise at the sight of Naruto running on top of him. He was shocked and knew he couldn't dodge in time. With that realisation on the man's face Naruto screamed in triumph, driving the sphere into his chest.

"Rasengan!" He screamed loudly, both in anger and in relief.

The two flew from the force of the technique until their momentum was finally stopped by a tree. The man looked at Naruto in a pained way that disturbed Naruto - for what reason he didn't know. Suddenly the man's eyes widened and, despite the obvious fact that he was dying, he drew his hands up into a famous seal. As he did so Naruto looked at it in pure horror as he suddenly worked out why the man had been so surprised.

"K-Kai." Yamato's exerted breath could be heard in his voice as the whole world changed for Naruto. No longer was the masked man in front of him. Instead, he found his hand plunged into his teacher's chest - a swirling pattern evident among the wretched burnt skin. Naruto's hands shook in disbelief and he stared at the blood coating them with a dead expression.

_"N-NO!"_ The horrified thought echoed through his mind; he had been tricked and now his sensei lay dying - _by his own hand_.

The man looked at Naruto in a multitude of emotions before he steeled his resolve and opened his mouth to give one final message.

"Run." The final words of the Mokuton user reverberated in his soul and as the boy watched the man's eyes glaze over and become dull something changed. In the reflection of those lifeless orbs Naruto's eyes could be seen - slitted and as red as blood.

* * *

**A/N: Yes that did just happen. Yamato be goooooooone.**

**Mwahahaha**


	5. Wave Arc: You Intrigue Me

**The Shadow Of A Flash**

_Chapter 5: You Intrigue Me_

* * *

They had been doing their rounds on the border when they felt it - a malicious, evil explosion of chakra. It was incredibly close to their location and only seemed to be growing. One ANBU member spoke up quickly, voicing the concerns of the collective majority.

"What the hell _is _that?" His voice was riveted by nerves. It was for good reason too because anything with that dark a feeling couldn't possibly be good. Another man turned to look specifically at one member. The target of his gaze was of a small build and seemed to be the only one who wasn't concerned by the presence of the foreign chakra. A foreboding mask sat on his face, one shaped like that of a black bird - a crow.

"Captain?" He addressed the man.

The small ANBU member turned to look at him, "Hmm?"

"Orders?" He was terrified of the answer but he already knew what they had to do.

"Spread out into the basic patrol formation. We're going to investigate." He spoke slowly in an attempt to calm the team down but wasn't sure if it worked.

Itachi never was very good with emotions.

* * *

"Hello Kyuubi." Tobi spoke coldly, staring at the boy who was now possessed by the nine-tails. The child didn't respond to his greeting, instead he turned and looked at the man with only one emotion visible on his face; anger, pure and unadulterated anger. The masked-nin merely sighed at the sight, "Not going to play nice then? That's fine. I guess we didn't exactly get off on the right foot last time did we?" The reply he received was the sight of the possessed Naruto running toward him madly on all fours. The boy swiped at Tobi viciously but the man merely sidestepped the attack and backhanded him roughly. The demon completely ignored the hit, taking it in full, and instead attempted to once again take Tobi's head off with a slash. The man jumped backwards this time and stared at the boy in bemusement.

"So you _are _mad." His tone belied the seriousness of the situation, "Gosh, for a demon you act like such a child."

Once again, he was left with no reply as Kyuubi-Naruto jumped at him and tried to latch onto his body. Tobi jumped backwards again only to stumble slightly on his landing when the boy sent a tendril of red chakra toward him. Unable to dodge, the man was forced to take some of the hit and hissed slightly in pain from the toxic nature of the chakra before he began chuckling darkly.

"As strong as ever. Such a shame you won't talk to me." He spoke as he dodged another swipe from the chakra. "No matter, I've already accomplished what I came for." He frowned as third and final tentacle of red chakra slashed at him. He couldn't avoid this one and so instead braced for it's impact before suddenly becoming intangible and the chakra passing through him with no effect. He then slammed him palm into Naruto's chest and the boy was flung from the impact into a tree. The red chakra whipped around him aggressively as it tried to heal the injuries incurred from the landing. If Tobi were to guess he'd say he broke quite a few ribs from that blast that would of usually severely hampered or even incapacitated a normal shinobi. Naruto however, was not currently a normal shinobi and the dark chakra soon healed all the wounds the boy had sustained. The Kyuubi child stood once again and darted forward at Tobi. The man sighed in boredom as he sidestepped the first swipe before batting the second away.

"Must we do this?" He attempted to sound irritated but a tone of amusement carried through his voice. This only seemed to enrage the possessed boy as he shot forwards for a third strike. Tobi giggled at the attack and bent backwards only to have to tilt his head to avoid another swipe from the other arm. He wasn't prepared for the sudden burst of red chakra that exited out of Naruto's fingers though. The boy landed the first hit on the masked-nin in the whole fight as he slashed him across the mask. Large indents could be seen down the front of the mask and cracks began to form. The lone Sharingan eye swirled madly and Tobi's whole body tensed.

"Enough!" He was angry, whether from the crack in his mask or the fact that they were still fighting one couldn't tell. The man suddenly looked out to the right of them into the long expanse of trees before saying, "It seems we have company. Until next time, Kyuubi." As he spoke it was clear he was no longer amused by the situation and he clenched his fists in frustration before touching his mask and the crack that had developed.

He hadn't been touched in battle since that night. It felt _wrong._

He sighed one more time before using Kamui to teleport out of the area.

* * *

As they were closing in on the area they realised they felt a second presence very near the dark, malicious chakra. They increased their speed and found themselves launching out of the tree canopy into a recently made clearing. Trees were scattered around, broken from the trunk and leaves were flying in the air as they were carried by the raw power reverberating in the area.

In the centre of the clearing they could see a small figure with red chakra coating the body and another, taller being standing in front of him. The man seemed to say something before he suddenly disappeared before their eyes. Several members of the squad gasped in shock at the action and prepared themselves to fight the figure if he or she teleported near them. Itachi waved their concerns away.

"His presence is gone. Concentrate on the other." No one asked how he knew he had left or how he knew it was a man. They simply nodded and began to form a perimetre around the remaining person. As they neared the figure suddenly gasped in pain and collapsed to the floor, the red chakra receding rapidly. They waited for a few moments and watched the display silently.

"Hare, Snake; create a defensive perimetre. Cat, follow me." The woman nodded in acquiescence and followed Itachi as he walked into the clearing toward the figure, her purple hair billowing in the wind. Itachi heard a gasp from the woman as they neared and he understood why; it was a child on the floor. They moved slightly quicker and were soon standing next to the child. Itachi bent down and rolled the person onto their side. As he did so Cat's earlier gasp was repeated albeit this time in much more shock. It was the Yondaime's son they were looking at, Namikaze Naruto.

"Is he injured?" Itachi ignored her question in favour of inspecting the boy. It seemed he had drawn on the Kyuubi's chakra - he assumed to fight that other man.

"There are burns across his body and he seems to be suffering from multiple rib fractures." The woman looked at him with a grim line across her face.

"And was that...?" The unasked question lingered in the air and Itachi merely nodded.

"This changes things. This boy's health is a priority. Cat-"

He was interrupted by a shout from Hare, "Captain! I think we found something you'll want to see." Itachi looked at the man and the way his muscles tensed and nodded. Picking up Naruto, he walked over to where Hare was. As he neared he was another body and this time Itachi recognized him immediately.

"Status?"

Hare hesitated before saying, "H-He's dead." Itach felt something painful happen in the pits of his stomach before he ruthlessly quashed it in order to maintain calm.

"Cause of death?"

"All ribs broken, both lungs punctured, legs broken from impact, bleeding out from multi-Captain... His vital organs have been reduced to _mush_." The other members of the squad winced slightly at his description, "Whatever killed him was incredibly power - and it did it from the inside out."

"Seal his body and prepare to move out. Snake, inform border patrol squads C11 and C14 that they will have to extend their units out to C12 and C13. We will be abandoning post and returning to the village with vital cargo." The ANBU member nodded silently and quickly set to work, summoning a small bird.

Hare seemed to finally realise who he was holding, "Captain is that-"

"Yes, which is why it's imperative that we return to the village as soon as possible. If he wakes on the way we will assess his health and attempt to investigate. Otherwise it will be half-speed back to the village." He looked around slowly at his squad, "Are you all ready?" At their nods, "Move out." And they did, all running in a triangle formation with Itachi in the centre, carrying Naruto. The teen turned ANBU captain tried to ignore the thoughts in the back of his head but found himself unable to avoid dwelling on the same question.

What had killed Tenzou?

* * *

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Naruto's eyes fluttered open with difficulty as he blinked several times to try and remove the blurry vision he was currently experiencing. Eventually he managed to see straight only to look down at the water surrounding him.

_"Where am I?"_ It appeared he was in some sort of dark sewer or cavern, with pipes running down the sides of the walls. He stood slowly and looked around in confusion. How had he got here? One second he had been fighting the masked man with Yam- "_Yamato-sensei!" _Relentless, crushing guilt weighed down on him. He had _killed _his sensei. It didn't matter if it was deliberate or not - he had done it. He stood for a few moments before a blind rage entered his being. He was going to find that masked-nin and he was going to kill him. He stalked down the long sewer halls in fury before he finally came upon a huge cave that had a reeking malignant feel to it.

It was then he heard it - a deep, dark and foreboding chuckle.

**"Friendship is such a fickle thing. So hard to obtain, yet so easy to rip out - especially through the chest."** A pang entered Naruto's heart as he realised that the being before him was taunting him about Yamato's death. He would of risen to the bait if it weren't for the fact that he was entirely aware of what, or rather _who_, was standing before him.

"Kyuubi?" It wasn't really a question. It never is when you already know the answer.

**"Don't you find the circumstances of our first meeting so very _ironic_?"** The demon moved into the light as he spoke and Naruto saw his head up against the cage door. His fur glowed a dangerous orange and his teeth were as sharp as a blade. Naruto found himself subconsciously stepping back in fear from the monster before he straightened his posture and looked the monster in the eyes. The nine-tailed demon, if anything, seemed amuse by this and laughed again.

"What do you mean?"

**"The fool taunts me. He thinks he is untouchable, in more ways then one. But he's wrong and when I find salvation he shall see the error of his ways." **Naruto got the sense that the terrifying being in front of him was angry with someone. He could only guess who.

"The masked-nin?" Naruto's eyes flashed in anger, "You know who he is?"

**"Who? No. What? Yes. He is an abomination - but half a man and the putrid flesh in which he walks is darker than even myself." **Kyuubi snarled in anger, **"He is a truly horrifying creature."**

Naruto looked at him in confusion, "How is he half a man? Who is he? What am I doing here?"

The Kyuubi stood on it's hind legs here and roared, **"Hold your tongue! You, a mere child, will not demand answers from me!" **Naruto's eyes widened in fear and he fell backwards into the murky water from terror. If anything the monster only seemed to grow angrier at this, **"The masked one shall die by my hand - whether a claw or a glove I do not care! If you do not help me in this then I will take your freedom, as easily as you have taken mine." **The boy's eyes flashed red and the previous fear disappeared.

"You think I'll stop you?! I wanna kill him so much!" He stood as he spoke, his voice whining in agony. The cage suddenly went quiet as the demon ceased his fidgeting only to stare Naruto down coldly. He looked at the boy with an inquisitive gaze, studying him.

**"If you seek his death then you will require power," **The Kyuubi grinned at this,** "Unfathomable power."**

The boy seemed to realise what he was getting at and spoke angrily, "I'm not releasing you!"

**"I am not a fool." **The demon put it's head on it's paws as it spoke,** "No. What I offer is a _partnership_. I shall lend you my power if you do something for me in return."**

"What?" The suspicious gaze spoke for itself.

**"The death of the man whom we both loath _and _a connection to the world."** At Naruto's confused glance Kyuubi elaborated,** "I wish to link our minds, if you will. If you do this I will be able to feel what you feel, taste what you taste, see what you see."** The Kyuubi shuffled slightly,** "I grow _bored _of my time here and I will not be leaving before your death. This is but one way I might find entertainment."**

"You won't be able to influence me?"

**"I will be able to speak to you if I wish it so but do not fear - I am not some sniveling raccoon that will try to break your mind. It's not worth the time it takes."** The boy was confused by the raccoon reference but didn't linger on it.

"Ok. I accept your deal."

**"Very well. Now leave! I wish to be alone."** At this the demon shot tendrils of red chakra into Naruto and he gasped in shock as he was flung out of the caged area and into an abyss. He starting falling and falling and...

* * *

Itachi looked at the child in interest. The boy hadn't woken during their travels and they were taking one of their appointed rests in a small clearing about a days travel from Konoha. He silently stared at the child as his squad shuffled uneasily around the small fire that was going. They were never the type to talk but the silence now was particularly suffocating. Itachi knew his team was growing more and more restless and so it was with a small amount of relief that he saw the child's eyes snap open. The boy seemed terrified for some reason and Itachi briskly walked over to him and knelt beside him.

Naruto looked around desperately and tried to move but found himself too weak to do so. As he did however his eyes locked onto the cold gazed of a man that was nearing him. The mask was unmistakable - he was ANBU. It was shaped like that of a bird and Naruto looked at him in trepidation before the man tilted his head slightly, realising Naruto's fear. The ANBU member then lifted his mask slightly so the child could see his face.

"I-Itachi-san?" Naruto asked hesitantly. The man nodded and Naruto felt his shoulder slump before he suddenly remembered, "Yamato-sensei!" The rest of the ANBU squad had begun watching the exchange and so looked on in pity as the child screamed his teacher's name.

Itachi seemed to ponder his reply before saying, "Dead. I'm sorry." The child's look of desperate hope imploded in on itself at that and Itachi could tell he was close to breaking down. "Do you know what happened?" He tried to investigate, ignoring the piercing gazed of the only female in his team; Cat.

The boy sobbed at his request, "It's my fault." He was whispering and Itachi strained to hear him.

"What do you mean?"

"I killed him!" He screamed in agony while the rest of the squad watched in sadness. Itachi knew there was a term for this; survivors guilt. At least, he hoped it was that. The boy became inconsolable after the scream and soon silent sobs wracked his body. Itachi watched as he withdrew from the world and slowly became too weak to stay conscious, slipping into a blissful sleep.

"Does anyone know what that meant?" It was Hare that spoke up. No one replied and Itachi sighed, the first emotional outburst he had allowed himself in the day.

"Don't speculate, we'll find out upon our return." The squad seemed to accept this and soon returned to what they had been doing before Naruto had woken. Itachi himself resumed watching the child and this time, rather than interest showing in his face, he peered at Naruto with concern.

* * *

His eyes fluttered open wearily. He closed them quickly as he was assaulted by blinding white light. As he tried to move his arm to rub his eyes he found he couldn't. He tried to get up only to feel himself held down. _"What's going on!" _He started to panic, fear building up in his mind. As he thrashed around to try and move his eyes opened again and this time he was able to grow used to the brightness of the room.

Four white walls surrounded him with a small window on one. He was strapped down to a bed and machines were humming loudly all around him. A small needle was shoved up his arm and seemed to be feeding a liquid into him. He knew where he was - Konoha's hospital. He could see the grim faces of the four Hokage's out the window. One machine in particular seemed to be humming loudly next to him and he realised that it must of monitored him waking up.

Why was he strapped down? He wriggled slightly and tried to escape from his binds only to find them just as restricting as when he had woken. Just before he tried something drastic the door to the room suddenly opened. A man with golden locks and a blindingly white cape strode in and walked over to his bed. He pressed a button on the wall and suddenly Naruto found himself free to move, the straps receding from the bed.

The man stood in front of him for a moment, "Naruto." As he said this he moved forward and grabbed Naruto's shoulders, embracing him into a hug. The boy neither refused nor returned the gesture, merely going slack in the man's arms.

"D-Dad." He was sniffling slightly and the man merely sighed as he held him. He never called him 'dad' anymore. Oh how fast the time had gone.

"It's okay, you're safe." He spoke slowly to calm Naruto but it only seemed to exacerbate the situation.

"He's dead and it's all my fault!" Naruto cried softly but his moans of anguish were clearly felt by the man.

Minato retracted from the hug and looked at Naruto piercingly, "I know you would never harm him, Naruto." The man seemed to gauge Naruto's mental health before suddenly saying, "Can you tell me what happened?"

The boy flinched before shrugging resignedly, "I killed him." At Minato's comforting gaze the boy continued, "W-We were patrolling when a man attacked us. He forced us to separate and then he-" The boy shivered slightly, "H-He put a genjutsu on me that made me think Yamato-sensei was him. I came up behind him and," His eyes deadened, "I put a Rasengan through his chest." The looked as if he had been struck as he finished, reliving the final moments of his sensei. Minato pursed his lips as he tried to think of a way to comfort the boy. He could easily have helped him if the man had simply died but to have had a hand in his death is something the man hadn't dealt with before.

"Naruto," The boy looked at him in surprise, "Did Yamato realise what happened?"

The boy nodded slowly, "He dispelled the illusion and he... He told me to run." He shivered at the memory of Yamato's glazed over eyes.

"I know this is hard - I can't even begin to imagine the guilt you're experiencing - But he spent his last moments trying to protect you. That is evidence enough alone that he forgives you."

Naruto looked at his father in anger, "How would you know! You weren't there! You didn't see his... His eyes." Minato sighed and breathed in deeply.

"Naruto, he taught you for _years, _he would gladly have given his life for you. Try to realise - He wouldn't blame you. No one would have done any different in your position."

"I should of known. I should of dispelled the-"

"But you didn't!" He winced slightly at the harsh tone but continued, "Don't fixate on 'what ifs'. Trust me, it doesn't help." An image of the Sandaime flashed through Minato's mind, "And don't demean his death _and _his teachings by falling apart. He treasured your life Naruto - don't stamp on his memory by letting your guilt consume you." Naruto had flinched at the start of his tirade and lowered his head more and more as he continued. Finally, as he finished speaking Naruto looked up with cold, dead eyes.

"You're right." blond bangs fell in front of his darkened face as he spoke, "I'll move on. I'll train. And then I'll kill him." Naruto didn't care whether it cost him his life - the masked man would die by his hand. Minato stepped back slightly in recoiled shock. Naruto's face suddenly morphed into an infamous traitor to Konoha and Minato found himself horrified with what he had heard. He didn't say anything - what could he say? Instead he let his shoulders drop in sadness.

"Revenge won't lead you anywhere."

"I don't care!" It was the first time that Naruto had spoken up against his father and the man found his worry increasing. "I-I Just want peace."

"Oh, Naruto..." The boy looked at him in fury as he spoke. He had always hated pity. He stood up stiffly, "I will be back for a full explanation of this man later. For now, rest." He turned to leave.

"Wait! Why was I tied up?"

Minato sighed, "Kyuubi's chakra started surrounding you a few days ago and the hospital staff were terrified. It was to placate their fears." Naruto blinked for a few moments before he realised it must of been the demon establishing that connection he had been speaking about earlier. He nodded slowly at his father and the man resumed his walk out of the room.

Naruto soon found himself alone in the white room.

**"Ah, success." **A voice drawled out from the back of his mind.

Well, not quite alone.

* * *

Naruto walked down the street slowly, hands in his pockets. Ignoring the suspicious glances from the villagers he kicked a stone angrily. Since his time under Yamato the villagers had moved on from outright hate to a more reserved suspicion of him. He never used to care all that much anyway but now that he was alone and without the presence of either his father or Yamato he found himself more easily depressed by the looks. It didn't help that he had only just been cleared from the hospital and was still very much guilty and angry about his sensei's death.

As he walked past a playground he heard a shout from the distance, "Hey Naruto-niisan!" A small smile graced his lips as he saw the small frame of Konohamaru running toward him with what appeared to be two friends behind him. Since he had met the boy he had been stuck to Naruto like glue and begged for training whenever he could. Naruto himself had given up trying to avoid him and had instead begun training him in his taijutsu and chakra control. The boy was only seven after all.

"Hey Kono-kun." He looked at the two other children following the Sandaime's grandson. One was a small snivelling boy with glasses while the other was a little girl with distinctly rosy cheeks. "Who're your friends?"

"Ah! That's Udon!" As he said this he pointed at the boy who almost cowered from his gazed, "And that's Moegi!" The small girl blushed as he looked at her, obviously shy of the attention.

"Hello." He waved at the two of them and plastered a smile on his face to reassure them. The two looked back at him hesitantly before waving back.

"Ey! Ey! Something's wrong Naruto-niisan! Why are you so sad?" Konohamaru spoke suspiciously as he pointed his finger at Naruto. The genin in question merely blinked at the comment - it seemed he didn't hide his emotions as well as he thought he did. His eyes hardened at the comment.

"Ah, nothing. Last mission went pretty badly." Naruto winced slightly, "Real badly."

Konohamaru squinted his eyes at him for a moment before saying, "Don't be sad Naruto-niisan, it makes me sad." The boy looked down at this, "You should be more happy! Bad stuff is always gonna happen, right?" Naruto laughed lightly at the boy's attempt to be comforting.

"You'll understand why I'm like this one day." He shrugged quickly, "But that doesn't mean I can't take my mind off it. Wanna go train?"

"YES!" The boy surely alerted the whole neighborhood.

Naruto looked at the other two, "Udon-kun? Moegi-chan? Would you like to as well?" The two nodded their heads vigorously and Naruto giggled slightly, "Then follow me - I know just the place."

Konohamaru grinned.

Mission: Distract Naruto - Success!

* * *

Minato drummed his fingers against his desk as he signed off some paperwork in the office. He suddenly tilted his head slightly so he could look at the window leading out. His eyes searched the opening for a bit and came to rest on the imposing Hokage mountain. As he looked at the stern face of his predecessor he sighed in frustration. Oh, how he wished that man was alive to help.

"You can come out now." He directed the question at the window. Sure enough, a tall, broad-shouldered figure appeared. He slowly stepped inside the room, his forehead gleaming with the symbol for 'oil' in the light.

"So, what now?" Jiraiya spoke nonchalantly but both occupants of the room knew he was listening keenly for the answer.

"You're not getting him as an apprentice, if that's what you're thinking." Minato replied softly as he continued to sign off documents.

Jiraiya let his eyes narrow in consternation, "What other option is there?"

"He needs time to recover from his wounds." Minato thought for a moment, "In particular, mentally."

"Oh?"

Minato shivered, making Jiraiya disturbed, "He wants revenge-"

"As do we all." the toad user interrupted him.

"It was the way he said it though... It reminds me of your teammate." Jiraiya tensed at the mention of Orochimaru, a sore point for him.

"So, how do you intend to fix this?"

Minato stopped writing at this and looked at the man, "The academy graduation is predicted to be one person short is it not?"

Jiraiya's eyes balked at this, "Are you insane?! Putting Naruto in the presence of genin while he's consumed by revenge? It's madness."

Killing intent suddenly suffocated the room as Minato lost control of his emotions and the Sannin unconsciously flexed his own chakra in order to maintain control of himself. Any other shinobi would have collapsed at the combined intensity of the two. And then, as suddenly as it had happened, the feeling was gone as the two regained control of themselves. The two stared at each other silently until Minato finally broke the contact.

"Need I remind you that he is only a genin himself? He _needs _to form bonds with people his age - I've cost him too much in the way of friendship already and now the only person he could of called a friend is dead and he blames himself for it." It was a strained voice, as if the man couldn't handle what he was saying.

Jiraiya rubbed his forehead in frustration, "I just hope you know what you're doing."

"You've said that a lot Jiraiya-sensei."

"Only because you've made me." The two laughed hollowly at that.

* * *

"Naruto?"

"Hokage-sama."

Minato would of winced if he were a lesser man. Instead, he simply ignored his son's cold countenance in favour of inspecting the child. It had been a few months since Yamato's death and Naruto had finally been cleared for missions again - his mental health seemingly checking out. The boy had foregone his blue navy pants and white vest for a much darker uniform. He wore black pants with a black undershirt. The shirt itself had no arms and he had bandages wrapped from his shoulders all the way to his wrists. On his hands he worse a pair of black fingerless gloves and on his feet a pair of black shinobi sandals. Rather than his old forehead protector he had instead had Yamato's old happuri-style forehead protector molded so it fit around his right arm. It sat on his shoulder like a piece of armor and helped to define his status as a Konoha-nin. As he looked at the boy Minato couldn't help but feel regret that the child had stopped imitating him with the white cloak.

"Due to the _position _you are in as a lone squad member I have had to find somewhere to assign you." Minato prepared himself for the backlash that was about to him, "The recent academy graduation exams have found us one member short of a full squad-" He stopped talking as he saw the boy's eyes flash in anger, "As a way to rectify both this issue and your current nomad status I have assigned you to Team 7, effective immediately. Do you understand?"

The room was silent for several seconds as the boy stared him down.

"Hai."

"Good. Team assignments are occurring in precisely one hour at the academy - I expect you to be in attendance. The sensei of the class will explain everything else to you."

"Hai, Hokage-_sama_." Minato picked up on the sarcasm in the title and wondered when it had ever gotten to this point.

"Dismissed." The boy disappeared in a swirl of leaves and Minato rubbed his temple in frustration.

"He doesn't seem too happy." A voice pierced the air from the shadows to the right of him.

"I'm not sure I can even tell what he feels anymore." Another sigh, "No matter. Perhaps he'll lighten up when he finds out his kaka-niisan is his sensei?" The man grinned light-heartedly at this and the figure in the shadows tensed slightly at the nickname.

"Hmm, did you say something sensei?" The Hokage moved fast and, suddenly, Kakashi felt a whack on the back of his head, "Eh, eh! I'm only joking."

"Don't use your diversion tactics on me Kakashi - I'm the one who taught you them."

The man stood out of his shadows and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "This is true."

"Now, hurry up and be late to my son's second graduation." The man laughed at his own wit. "_Hurry up and be late... Ha!" _He thought to himself. The man he had been addressing seemed to agree with him as he moved toward the door.

"I wonder what excuse I should use..."

* * *

Naruto knocked on the door quickly - a nice tap and nothing more. As soon as he had finished his hands found themselves in their usual position in his pockets. The door suddenly swung open and a tall chunin looked down at him smiling softly. He seemed decidedly _average _looking aside from a harsh scar across the bridge of his nose.

"Can I help you?" The man asked politely.

"Is this the team assignments?" At the man's nod he continued, "I'm Naruto."

The man blinked at him stupidly for a few moments before suddenly gushing, "Ah yes! Pleasure to meet you Namikaze-san. My name's Iruka." He beckoned for him to walk into the room and as Naruto did so the man continued, "If you just go sit up in one of the seats that'd be greatly appreciated. We're just about to go through the teams." Naruto nodded and quietly walked up the stairs of the classroom to sit in a seat next to what appeared to be a member of the Nara clan. The boy had been sleeping and upon seeing him simply muttered something akin to 'troublesome' before putting his head back down on the desk. He ignored the muttering and questioning glances as he sat down.

The rest of the class were decidedly confused by his presence and Iruka cleared his throat to draw attention to himself, "Class, due to the odd number of graduates this year Naruto-san will be joining one of the teams."

"But sensei he hasn't even been in class!" It was a blonde haired girl who spoke.

One could hear Sasuke scoff in the background while Iruka calmly replied, "Naruto-san passed a few years ago," By a few years he meant six, "He has merely been reassigned." the blonde haired girl looked like she wanted to ask why but controlled herself. Iruka looked around at the still confused faces waiting for another outburst before smiling gently as he realised they were satisfied.

"Alright, without further adieu let's get started! Team One is still rostered from last year... Team Two will comprise of..." Naruto droned the man out as he spoke, waiting for his name.

"Team Seven will consist of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke," A loud scream of happiness could be heard from the pink-haired girl that Naruto could only assume was Sakura, "And Namikaze Naruto." Whispers shot up across the classroom as some of the more knowledgeable students realised the connection between the Hokage and the new boy. The boy next to Naruto suddenly looked up in surprise as he heard the name and stared intently at him for a few seconds. As he held his gaze he muttered something incoherent before returning to sleep. Chouji himself seemed to have realised that Naruto was the boy from Ichiraku that he had met in the past and Sasuke merely looked at him with knowing glance, having already met Naruto too.

"Your jounin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi." Naruto's eyes shot up in surprise at this and he looked at the sky angrily for a second. Of all the people he could of had...

"...And your jounin sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma. Alright, that's everyone!" Naruto looked back at the teacher, startled he had missed the other team placements. "Well, this signals the end to your time at the academy. Just remember what I taught you and be sure you do Konoha proud." The man smiled softly at them all before finally adding, "Your jounin sensei will arrive to pick you up by the hour, good luck!" Naruto held back a snort as the man suggested the possibility of Kakashi being on time and instead deigned to sit in his seat silently.

* * *

It had been two and a half hours and every other team had already been picked up by their sensei. Sasuke had resigned himself to spinning a kunai and looking out the window while Naruto himself was reading a book. Sakura had been sitting silently and Naruto could feel the anger pulsating out of her body. Just as it looked like she was about to explode the door was opened and a man with gravity-defying hair poked his head in.

"Hmm. My first impression of you all is..." He looked specifically at Naruto, "I don't like you." Naruto felt his eye twitch in anger as his other two teammates were much more visible in their fury. The man didn't give them a chance to vent however as he quickly added, "Head to the roof." And then he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto sighed out loud as his two other teammates glared daggers at where the man had previously stood. They all began to make the trek up the staircase before finally reaching the roof and walking over to where Kakashi was sitting.

"So, first things first... Let's introduce ourselves!" The man somehow managed to convey a small through his mask. None of the genin seemed to reply to his statement, with all of them looking at him confusedly. "Ah, well I guess I'll go first. My name's Kakashi, I like some things, I dislike a few things, my hobbies you don't need to know about and my dream... Hmm, a bit too mature for you!" He smirked at all of them as they looked back at him with a deadpanned expression on their face, "Ok, how about you first pinkie!"

Sakura huffed for a moment as she realised he was referring to her, "My name is Sakura, I like..." She giggled for a moment, "I dislike Ino! My hobbies are..." She looked at Sasuke and blushed, "And my dreams..." Her eyes turned into stares at this point.

Kakashi seemed to watch in bemusement, "Ahh, ok. How about you now pink-eye?" Sasuke seemed to have the same reaction as Sakura as he looked at the man with something akin to a glare for his nickname.

"My name is Sasuke. I like learning new jutsu. I dislike being weak and my hobbies are training hanging out with clan members. My dream is to join the Konoha Police Force and one day surpass my brother." He spoke quietly but was still pleasant as he did so.

"Alright, lucky last Naru-_chan_." Naruto's eyes narrowed at the nickname as the other two members of the team looked at them in surprise, both wondering how they knew eachother.

"My name's Naruto. I like Jiraiya-sensei and Ichiraku Ramen. I dislike..." His eyes flashed full of malicious hate for a moment, "A lot of people. My hobbies are training and reading. My dream is to step outside of my father's shadow and to _kill_ a certain man." As he finished speaking he clenched his fists in anger and blonde bangs fell in front of his eyes as he lowered his head.

Kakashi watched the whole thing with apathetic eyes before turning to look at all three of them, "Well, now that that's done I would usually test you tomorrow but seeing as how Naru-chan would know the test already and I've kind of been _forced _into passing you... Congratulations! You're now officially team seven." His eye-smile radiated over all three of them.

"So what's next sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Missions!" Kakashi almost felt sorry for the ambitious gleam in Sasuke's eyes, _almost_.

* * *

"Is there a reason you're watching me so intently?" Naruto looked up from the ramen bowl he had previously been engaging in. The flaps of the Ichiraku Ramen Stand surrounded him and the boy he had just addressed his question at. To his credit, the other occupant merely muttered something under his breath before looking back at him.

"You intrigue me Namikaze Naruto." The boy spoke slowly, "I hate it when I'm intrigued."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Why do you intrigue me or why do I hate the fact that I am?"

Naruto tilted his head, the person was avoiding his question, "Both."

"The son of our Hokage shows up out of nowhere, angry with the world and wielding eyes that suggest a sharper intelligence then I'm comfortable with." He drawled before adding, "I hate that you've grabbed my attention because now I'm doing things that are much too troublesome."

"You know so much about me and yet I don't even know your name." Naruto frowned as he spoke.

"Nara Shikamaru." Naruto nodded in acquiescence.

"Well Shikamaru-san, I would like to say it's nice to meet you..." He waited for the Nara boy to finish his sentence.

"And it is." He thought for a moment, "I would like to know you more though. Tell me, do you play shougi?"

Naruto put some money on the counter before looking back at the boy, "Lead the way, Shikamaru-san."

* * *

As Sasuke held the angry cat named Tora at arms length and _still _found himself being scratched viciously by the demonic animal he realised he really regretted ever getting his hopes up. This _farce _of a mission was nothing more then a village chore, much like the rest of the dreaded D-rank missions him and his team had had to complete. Speaking of his team, Sakura was giggling slightly at his predicament and Naruto was, as per asual, brooding from a distance though Sasuke thought he could see a hint of mirth in the boy's eyes.

"If you think this is so funny then..." He looked at Sakura, "Here." He threw the cat at the girl who instinctively caught it and he found himself almost feeling guilty for his actions as the girl struggled to hold cat while it scratched her.

"Sasuke-kuuuuuuuun." She whined in sadness. Yep, there goes that guilty feeling.

Kakashi, with that infuriating book of his, seemed to take great delight in the whole situation, "Now, now Sasuke. Let's not shirk our duties." As he said that Sasuke suddenly found the cat thrown at his face courtesy of the jounin picking it up and playing catch with it. This back and forth game of ball, code-named Toraball, continued until the four of them soon found themselves standing in front of the Hokage - with the cat having been palmed off to it's owner. The blonde haired man smiled at them all as they stood there with varying degrees of anger, amusement and apathy on their faces.

"Team Seven reporting back from another successful D-rank Hokage-sama." Kakashi spoke idly as he turned another page in his book.

The man smiled, "Ah good. so, wh-" The man suddenly stopped as he saw what Kakashi was reading, "Kakashi, if you don't get that book out of my face I will get rid of it for you." The reaction was instantaneous as the book suddenly disappeared, "And if I so much as see hear of you corrupting our youth with that book I'll make sure you're never able to buy another one again." The man whimpered at this, _whimpered._

Kakashi finally seemed to gather the courage to speak, "Moving on..." At the Hokage's nod, "I'd like to request a C-rank for my team Hokage-sama." As he spoke the blonde-haired man's eyes narrowed.

"You believe they're ready?"

"I do." The two stared at each other for a moment, both evaluating the other. Minato because he was testing Kakashi's confidence and Kakashi because he was seeing if Minato was truly only worried about his son.

"Very well." The pressure that had been slowly building in the room dissipated, "I have a C-ranked escort mission to wave. A bridge builder needs protection for the return to his country and the duration of him building the bridge. Do you accept?"

The roles reversed quickly, "I do." Kakashi spoke confidently.

"Hmm." The Hokage looked at a female chunin had been working on mission scrolls and ordered her, "Please go collect Tazuna-san." The woman nodded and briskly left the room only to return with a man who reeked of sake and stumbled about the room.

The drunk looked at team seven in disbelief, "_This _is my escort? They're only a bunch of brat." He looked particularly at Naruto, "Especially that one - he's a freaking midget."

Eyes narrowed and flashed red, "Old fool." The collective group in the room looked at Naruto in surprise. He wasn't exactly one for emotional outbursts.

"You can't kill the client before you leave Naruto." Minato watched on in amusement.

"Hai, Hokage-_sama_." Naruto's sarcasm was obvious to all.

Sakura screeched in horror, "Show some respect to the Hokage Naruto!"

Silence.

"Well this is awkward." Kakashi giggled, ever the comedian.

Minato decided to save the girl from the embarrassment she had unknowingly placed on herself, "Well, I think that's all you need to know? Meet Tazuna at the gate in, oh say, an hour? Ok! Dismissed." Kakashi silently thanked his sensei for his timely interruption. As all her teammates disappeared Sakura looked around in confusion before running out of the office after Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun!" The boy turned around in irritation.

"Yeah?"

"Why was that awkward? What'd I do wrong?"

Sasuke looked at her for a moment in disbelief, "You do realise Naruto is the Hokage's son right?" At the girl's look first of shock and then abject horror he sighed, "I guess not." At that he continued to walk back toward his house.

Sakura didn't move as the realisation of how much she had embarrassed herself began to sink in.

* * *

**A/N: I'd just like to clarify that Naruto will be slightly broody for a while because, well... He kind of killed his sensei by accident. Cut the kid some slack, alright?**


	6. Wave Arc: Onwards To Victory

**The Shadow Of A Flash**

_Chapter 6: Onwards To Victory_**  
**

* * *

It was an incredibly quiet walk out of Konoha for Team Seven. Naruto and Kakashi were both reading as they walked, the former studying _'The Tangibility Of Chakra Strings' _and the latter giggling to something strictly adults only. Needless to say Sakura was spending her time glaring at Kakashi for reading the smut while Sasuke took in his surroundings - it was the first time he'd been out of the village.

They walked at a leisurely pace to allow Tazuna to keep up. It also allowed the young shinobi to take in the sights outside of the village, although Naruto had already experienced international travel. As they walked Sakura began watching Naruto in trepidation. She seemed to be gathering the courage to say something. The boy himself was oblivious to her conflict as he read his book in silence.

"Um, Naruto?" She finally managed to speak. An audible snap of a book could be heard closing as Naruto turned to look at her while putting his book in his waist pouch.

"Hai?" He spoke softly and with a tone of rigid politeness.

Sakura hesitated for a moment as she tried to work out a way to say something, "I'm just wondering... Why didn't you tell us you're the son of the Yondaime?"

Naruto clicked his tongue in distaste, "I didn't see it as necessary information for us to work together." He thought for a moment before adding, "After all, I don't know your or Sasuke's father either."

"I guess," Sakura couldn't deny his logic, "Um, I'm just curious is all. What's he like?"

Naruto's face visibly darkened and set into a frown, "He's a shinobi." He didn't say anymore after that and walked further up the road to signify that was all Sakura was going to get out of him. Sakura herself was frowning after his response and looked to Sasuke and Kakashi in confusion.

"Sensei, did I say something wrong?" Kakashi looked up from his book, although he had been listening to the whole conversation. Sasuke too leaned in for his answer.

"No, no. Naruto and his father just have a rather _peculiar _relationship. One I wouldn't recommend reminding Naruto of." The hidden message was obvious enough to the genin - Naruto and the Hokage had bad blood, literally. "Let's just say it's hard measuring yourself up to someone like him," Oh Kakashi certainly knew that feeling, "And harder still when that measuring stick is as demanding as Minato-sensei is." The masked-man could only imagine what pains Naruto had had to go through in his youth.

Sasuke unconsciously clenched his fists as Kakashi reminded him of his relationship with his brother. He loved Itachi but sometimes it was hard to be second best. In that, Sasuke found some correlation in his situation with Naruto's. Tazuna had been listening in to the whole conversation silently with wide eyes. He had insulted the Hokage's son, the _Hokage's_! And worse yet, he had put him in danger by lying. He found himself sweating more before regaining he resolve - it was for his country, they would understand.

It was precisely when Tazuna was having his internal conflict that the group passed by an inconspicuous puddle on the side of the road. Sakura and Sasuke didn't pay any attention to it while Kakashi stared at it for a second longer then one would expect and Naruto tensed his muscles as they passed it. At first it seemed nothing was going to happen and they'd been wrong to be suspicious when suddenly two shinobi appeared from behind them.

They drew a set of vicious chains around Kakashi and pulled. Blood and gore showered over the grass as they announced, "One down." The genin needed no further warning; Sasuke immediately threw two kunai at them which were easily knocked away. The distraction was enough for Sakura position herself in front of Tazuna. Naruto himself stood still and waited as there was a tense silence. Suddenly the two enemy-nin shot forward straight at Sakura and the girl looked terrified about the incoming impact. Before they got close however Naruto appeared between them courtesy of a shunshin and backhanded one away. As he rolled away the other struck at Sakura. The girl flinched in preparation for the hit but before he could Naruto struck at him with a vicious jab in the chest, his hand straightened fully.

For a few milliseconds nothing happened and then the man collapsed with a soundless scream on his face. Blood splattered out of his chest and hit Sakura in the face and coated Naruto's entire arm. The boy frowned in annoyance and turned to deal with the other shinobi but found Kakashi holding him by the throat up against a tree, a hand still in his pocket.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura snapped out of her fear-induced shock and looked at the reappearance of her sensei in surprise.

Kakashi, still holding the shinobi, turned and smile, "Ano, Sakura-chan just give me a sec." He turned back to the man in question and spoke with a dead voice, "Tell me everything." The shinobi, rather than spilling his guts, merely laughed in Kakashi's face. He soon found a whack on the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

The copy-nin turned and smiled at his team, "Great job guys! Sasuke, that distraction allowed Sakura to move into position and Naruto..." He looked at the genin's bload soaked arm, "Your defence of Sakura was admirable."

Sakura blushed at that and turned to the boy, "Thanks Naruto-kun!" The boy raised his eyebrow at the new honourific but merely nodded in acceptance. The girl quickly added, "But, how did you do _that_?" She winced as she pointed to the dead shinobi and the splattered clothing they now wore.

"I waited until I was able to get under his guard and jabbed his heart with wind chakra lacing it. His heart was sliced in two upon impact." His emotionless recount of the kill made Sakura almost step back in fear before she realised it was for her benefit that it happened. Sasuke, to his credit, merely seemed impressed by the event.

"Well, you two might want to get cleaned up. Meanwhile, I'm going to have a date with this cute character here. Sasuke, could you please ask Tazuna-san why there are chunin-level shinobi after him? Ok, regroup in five!" The man grinned innocently even as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke with the man in tow.

"Where's he going?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"To torture him." It was Sasuke who spoke and Naruto's inclination of the head indicated he agreed. The girl gasped in shock - torture wasn't something she was comfortable with and so she was glad the man had deigned to do it elsewhere. Sasuke himself didn't feel entirely comfortable with it.

"It's part of the job Sakura. I suggest you grow used to it - Kakashi-sensei won't be able to hide it from us forever." The girl seemed appalled by the idea of learning torture but kept her mouth shut as the Namikaze spoke. As she thought about the horrors Kakashi was inflicting on the poor soul who had attacked them Sasuke turned to Tazuna, remembering Kakashi's order.

"So Tazuna-san, why exactly _do _you have shinobi after you?" It was a polite enough question but it still made the man shiver slightly in fear.

The man took a big swig of his sake before speaking, "Wave is real bad kid, like super bad. We could barely afford to hire your team to protect me, let alone anything else."

"But why?" The voice originated from the pink-haired shinobi.

"Well, Wave never used to be like this but one day a super rich man called Gato began to buy out everything." His face darkened as he spoke, "Soon he had control of the whole country. He's a vicious, cruel man and not above illegal activities. He's bleeding the country dry." The man began to gesticulate erroneously, "Which is why my super bridge is so important! If we succeed then Gato will lose his grip over the country." The three frowned as he spoke; a country being held to ransom was bad no matter how you looked at it. It tugged at their heartstrings.

"Now why didn't you tell us all that from the start?" The four of them all jumped as Kakashi's voice emanated from behind them, "This mission just got serious. From now on we'll only be dealing with higher-level shinobi."

The three students looked at him in surprise, "Sensei, where did you come from? And what happened to that shinobi?" It was Sasuke who voiced their thoughts.

Kakashi smirked, "Oh I've been here since the start. My Kage Bunshin was the one who left. As for our friend? Well, unfortunately he didn't give me too much info other than that we'll all be dead soon." He smiled merrily at them, "He won't be the one doing it though so don't worry!" Suddenly his head snapped at Tazuna, "Tazuna-san unfortunately due to the circumstances I don't feel comfortable taking my team any further. They're not adequately prepared."

Kakashi ignored the snort from Naruto but had no choice but to listen as Sasuke quickly interrupted, "Why not? This is the best mission we've had. It's a good test of our strength." Kakashi looked at him in surprise before turning to look at Sakura.

"A-Ano, I think I want to keep going too sensei. We should help these people." She spoke hesitantly at first but her resolve returned as she mentioned the people of Wave. Kakashi turned to Naruto but the boy was already glowering at the very suggestion that he wouldn't want to continue.

"Alright," He sighed, "I guess you should be thanking my team and their silly morals Tazuna-san." He whipped out his book suddenly, "Now! Onwards to victory." The intensity of what he was sighing was ruined by the perveted giggle that rang out as he read his book. The rest of the team sighed at his antics while Tazuna cried about how thankful he was.

* * *

Naruto knew something was wrong as soon as they got off the boat; a pervading mist was rolling around the area that was much too thick to be natural. Kakashi too seemed to take notice while Sakura and Sasuke stayed innocently oblivious to the danger around them. As they walked further and further into the mist Naruto heard a shuffle of leaves near his position and so quickly drew a kunai and threw it in the direction of the sound. A loud squelch could be heard and the rest of the team drew weapons in response to his throw. Naruto himself pulled the bushes away where he had thrown the kunai and found a dead rabbit pinned in the head to a tree.

Sakura squealed in disgust at the kill, "Naruto! How could you kill such a cute little rabbit?!" The boy didn't reply however; something was off about the animal. He _knew_ he had heard a human presence near their area and so when he heard a large swish above his head he wasn't surprised by the sudden fear that struck his body.

"Get down!" It was Kakashi who spoke while the three of them dived to the floor with the jounin pulling Tazuna on his way down. As soon as they hit the ground a sword flew above their heads and lodged in a tree next to them. It suddenly disappeared and a man materialized in the mist.

"The famous copy-nin Kakashi... What an honour," The voice cut the air around the team, "T-The Yellow-" The voice suddenly grew panicked before it started chuckling darkly, "No... It's his disappointment of a son. Shame." Naruto clenched his fists in anger - why did everyone compare him to his father?

Kakashi himself quickly moved in front of the genin and spoke slowly, "Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist. I guess I'll have to get serious." At that he pulled his headband down and a flash of red could be seen.

"Oh, the Sharingan already? I'm _so _honoured." A sickly laughter could be heard reverberating in the mist before the man disappeared.

Kakashi turned to the genin, "Guys, this person is on a whole other level. Stay out of the fight and protect Tazuna-san." As he spoke the man in question suddenly appeared next to Kakashi and slashed viciously before the copy-nin shunshined behind him and stabbed with a kunai. For a moment Naruto thought he had succeeded before the swordsman collapsed into soon found himself on the sticky end of a kunai from behind but he too dissolved into a puddle before a kunai struck the man with the offending object, thrown from a distance. Zabuza managed to move slightly so it only grazed his shoulder.

The genin meanwhile felt the oppresive nature of the fight. Naruto shrugged it off with little difficulty, having experienced much worse from shinobi in the field. Sakura and Sasuke weren't so lucky and found themselves terrified. Before they could do anything too drastic Kakashi seemed to notice their distress and thus quickly moved to rectify it.

"Don't worry guys, I'll never let my comrades die." He spoke confidently and the genin soon found themselves reassured, the killing intent disappearing under a new resurgence of strength.

A voice appeared from all around them, "An admirable promise but you've given your location away!" As he spoke the clash of kunai could be heard in the mist before Kakashi suddenly jumped away, holding his bleeding arm in pain. Zabuza gave chase and as he did so ran through handseals rapidly. The two soon found themselves facing each other but Kakashi had no chance to avoid the technique Zabuza had finished readying.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" A huge monolithic surge of water appeared in front of Kakashi and struck him. The copy-nin took the brunt of the attack and landed harshly in the lake from which the water had been drawn. As he stood back up on the water Zabuza appeared in front of him and viciously kicked him further into the centre, "You're in _my _element now, Sharingan no Kakashi." He flipped through handseals rapidly and held his hand out in the direction of Kakashi as he finished, "Suirō no Jutsu!" A huge ball of water surged up around Kakashi and trapped him inside. The swordsman laughed darkly at him and, while holding his hand out, turned toward the genin and pointed at them.

"It's over now." As he said that water clones materialized and moved toward the group of shinobi. Tazuna himself looked terrified while Sakura didn't look much better. Sasuke clenched his kunai and unconsciously looked toward Naruto for guidance. Before the boy could speak however Kakashi deigned it important to voice his own concerns.

"Run! He's out of your league!"

A barking laughter could be heard across the area, "Don't coddle me Kakashi-sensei. I may not be able to beat him but," A pause and flash of movement, "I can certainly free you." He finished the sentence and in front of Zabuza's eyes his clones suddenly dissolved, all slashed through the chest.

The missing-nin's eyes narrowed, "Figures. Of course you'd be fast." He looked at Naruto madly, "But you're still _nothing_!" More clones appeared and the original himself threw kunai at Naruto. The boy blocked the weapons before suddenly bolting at Zabuza. As he did so the clones moved to block him but rather than face them he simply jumped on the chest of one and pushed off it to jump over the rest.

He quickly jumped on the lake but was soon blocked by the rest of the clones. Darting forwards, he lunged at one and stabbed it viciously in the stomach. As it dissolved two struck at him from his side but Naruto simply stopped channeling chakra to his feet and fell into the water to avoid the attack. He surged chakra back into the appendages and suddenly burst out of the top of the lake. While regaining composure he flashed through seals and jumped to avoid the sword strike of one clone.

"Suiton: Bakusui Shōha no Jutsu!" A massive tidal wave grew in front of Naruto before pushing toward Zabuza and Kakashi. It swept up the clones as it moved, multiple dissolving into the torrent of water. In order to survive the attack and keep the water prison intact the sword-user had to apply incredible amounts of chakra to his feet. The battering of the wave severely winded him and he was sure one of his arms dislocated but he held strong. What he couldn't avoid however was the flash of a kunai moving behind the tidal wave with an _explosive _note attached. Rather than simply batter the kunai away he had to jumped to the right entirely to avoid the backlash of the explosion. Because of this the water prison dropped and Kakashi wasted no time taking the initiative. He moved in front of the man and slashed with a kunai. Catching the swordsman in the chest with a nasty gash, the victim of the attack jumped away to avoid further punishment. With a dislocated arm and heavy wound on his chest the man looked just about done.

"You fucking filth! I'll kill you!" He snarled angrily - although the boy himself had seemed to disappear as soon as the attack had been launched. Before he could even move to find the child in question his path was blocked by Kakashi.

"You're fight is with me." And it was. The kiri-nin, with incredible difficulty, began to flash through handseals. As he did so Kakashi began to copy him. Because of his dislocated arm the man struggled to keep a decent speed and so Kakashi himself finished first. Before the man could react the copy-nin shouted, "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" A massive dragon erupted in the water and shot toward Zabuza.

"N-No!" The man screamed as he desperately flung himself to avoid the attack. Before he could move any more Kakashi was upon him and had landed a kunai in his thigh. The copy-nin moved to finish the kill before senbon flashed in front of him and did so for him. Kakashi whipped his head around quickly, looking for the sourced. A small hunter-nin moved out from behind the trees and approached him.

"My apologies, Konoha-san. I've been hunting this man for quite some time." The person moved forward and grabbed the body. Before Kakashi could react the man disappeared with the body. The copy-nin frowned slightly in consternation; to disappear so quickly like that was odd.

The man didn't have time to contemplate the issues though as he turned to his team only to be greeted with the site of a horribly distraught Sakura and gloomy Sasuke holding an unconscious and heavily bleeding Naruto on his back. The copy-nin darted forward to the boy in worry.

"What happened?" As he spoke the words were thick with fear.

Sasuke was the one who spoke, "He was struck by the sword in his side as he finished the jutsu. He couldn't avoid it without finishing the handseals and so _deliberately _took it. Then he threw the kunai for good measure before just collapsing." The boy clicked his tongue in distaste and Kakashi felt the compulsion to agree with him. Taking a hit like that wouldn't of been pleasant. What made him feel worse was the knowledge that the boy had done so because of his own foolhardiness that got him captured.

The jounin moved forward and began to check the wound rapidly.

"I-Is he gonna be okay?" Sakura asked tentatively.

"That's what I'm finding out." It was a distracted voice - more so then his usual aloof one - but he didn't really have time to deal with a worried girl what with the possibly dying boy in his hands so he focused on the primary issue at hand rather than immediately reassuring. Rolling up the black shirt that Naruto wore to inspect the wound in more detail, he internally sighed in relief - it wasn't too deep that the boy would die on the spot. Regardless, he might bleed out if they didn't do something quick and so he ripped the bandages off the boy's arm and used them to stop the bleeding. While he worked the pink-haired girl next to him tensed in fear and clenched her dress with her hands.

Smiling at his handiwork he addressed his team, "There we go, he won't be dying anytime soon." Cue a round of forehead rubbing and sighs of relief, "Now!" He looked at Tazuna, "I think it's time we get to your house so Naruto might be properly healed." As he did so the bridge builder nodded in hurry.

"Yes of course! Follow me." And they did, trekking quietly through the now mist-less woods.

* * *

Tsunami didn't know what exactly she had been expecting when she answered the knock on her door but a half-dead boy with an exhausted looking adult, two other kids and her own drunk father was most certainly _not _what she would of thought. Regardless, she took the sight in quick stride and gesture quickly for the man carrying the boy to come inside.

"Quick, quick. Put him on the couch and I'll get the medical supplies." It was a calm voice that she spoke with - after all she did deal with Tazuna on a daily basis. If the man was surprised by her composure he didn't show it. He followed her orders quickly and placed the boy on the couch gently before sitting down next to him, relieved that he could take a moment to rest. As the woman left to get the medical supplies Kakashi beckoned Sakura and Sasuke over.

As they neared he began to speak, "Just thought you should know - I'm nearly used all my chakra and so will need tomorrow to rest. After that, we'll train!" If the grin he wore was anything to go by it wasn't training they were going to enjoy.

"Ano, what about Naruto-kun?" Sakura's tone conveyed a surprising degree of concern.

"Ahh, Naruto's made of sturdier stuff then you think; he'll be fine in a few days." _"Although why he isn't being healed by Kyuubi is something to find out." _Usually the boy would of recovered from his wound by now but it seemed his extraodinary healing rate wasn't kicking into gear. Before the girl could query his confidence in Naruto's well-being the woman returned, bandages and ointments in hand.

She quickly walked over to Naruto, "Alright, let's have a look." As she pulled the bandages and saw the huge gash she gave Tazuna, who had been skulking around the area, a reproachful look, "Only the trip back and you've already gotten them almost killed!"

"Hey, hey! It's not my-" He stopped for a moment, "Well it is but I'm not the one attacking." The man had a lop-sided grin on his face as he spoke that belied the underlying worry in his tone.

Tsunami simply sighed in reply, "I know, it's just stressful." She looked at Kakashi who had been sitting silently, "You may want to hold him down for this. He might react badly - it's going to hurt." Kakashi simply nodded and moved to hold Naruto's shoulders down while the woman snatched Tazuna's alcohol out of his hand before pouring it over the boy's wound in one quick motion. The sound of hissing could be heard from his flesh before Naruto's eyes suddenly shot open and a kunai was drawn out of his pouch. Kakashi interrupted the instinctive movement by grabbing the hand while it was in mid-motion of stabbing the copy-nin's stomach.

"Ano, that's my stomach Naruto." It was a good-natured joke and drew the boy's attention. Naruto finally managed to gather his bearing and realised he had almost killed his sensei and so sheepishly withdrew the attack.

"Where am I?" He directed the question at Kakashi.

"Wave!" At Sasuke's roll of the eyes in the background he continued, "But more specifically; Tazuna-san's house. You're being treated for a wound Zabuza inflicted on you." The boy narrowed his eyes at that and looked down at the vicious gash before sighing and rubbing his temple. He didn't have much time to contemplate the injury before he was hissing in pain again from Tsunami pressing some sort of ointment over it.

"Sorry, I know it hurts." It didn't stop her from doing it though. "Almost done!" As she said this she began to wrap bandages around Naruto's wound before sighing in happiness as she completed it, "There, finished." The woman stood back from her handiwork before smiling, "Alright, now try not to aggravate it too much." Naruto nodded in acquiescence and Tsunami walked off, satisfied with what she had done.

As soon as she left direct earshot Kakashi turned back to the group, "Now that Naru-_chan _is all better," At this he patted the boy on his head patronizingly, "I've got something to tell you all. Unfortunately it's not good news..." As the three leaned in to listen he continued, "Our friend Zabuza? I think he's still alive and kicking." While the other two looked shocked Naruto himself didn't even know the result of the battle so everything was new to him, "The hunter-nin should have disposed of the body on the spot... And he didn't even exchange pleasantries!" The three gave him a deadpanned look so he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Anyway, don't worry too much for now - Zabuza won't be able to attack us for a while with all those wounds and the dislocated arm he experienced, especially not with me at full strength. In the meantime we'll do some training to get you all up to speed."

"Ano, what training would get us up to speed with a jounin?" Sakura asked in confusion.

Kakashi leaned in conspiratorially and the genin followed him movement, waiting for him to tell them his secret method, "Trees." His gleeful experience certainly wasn't reflected in the otherwise complety baffled group of genin in front of him but it didn't matter. They would understand soon. Kakashi could literally envision himself laughing madly at their misery.

* * *

The next morning was _not _a good time for Naruto. First when he woke up he stretched his wound so it started bleeding. Then he struggled to walk to the bathroom where he changed the covering for it. Then he struggled back into the room to get changed before _finally _he struggled down the incredibly large staircase to get to the table in the kitchen. Sasuke watched the entire thing unfold with no small amount of amusement which Naruto found unusually irritating. Perhaps even more annoying was Sakura's decision to try and help him whenever we could. It always ended with him falling over somehow and her apologising profusely, Kakashi watching with mirthful aloofness.

"Can you _not _read that _smut _in my _face_?" Naruto's fury was evident in haggard and scratchy voice and the whole room could literally feel the anger rolling off of him in waves.

"Hmm, did you say something Naru-chan?" Everyone, that is, except for the man himself who was reading it. Naruto couldn't understand his luck, to be taught by the pervert who wrote the books and the only freak in the world who would actually shamelessly read them at breakfast... Breakfast! Tsunami seemed to be privately agreeing with his assessment of Kakashi, glaring at the man who had the sheer audacity to read porn in front of her eight year old son.

"You disgust me." Naruto thought the sentence summed up the situation quite well.

Kakashi looked up from his book in mock sadness. "Now that's not very nice. What'd my book ever do to you?" As he spoke Naruto dissolved into private muttering about 'filth' and 'perverted teachers'. It seemed like the room was finally going to revert to silence.

"Why do you even bother?" Nevermind.

Sasuke looked at the child, Inari, who had talked, "I'm sorry." Naruto thought that summed up the collective thoughts of everyone quite well.

"You're all going to die anyway. Why do you even bother? Gato will just kill you." The boy sniffled as he spoke which made Naruto's head spin with dark thoughts about the best way to eviscerate a self-pitying brat.

"I've been ordered to protect your father. As a shinobi of Konoha the most important thing for me is the attainment of my objective. Death before failure, life for the cause." Narut intoned the old saying monotonously, "If I have to lay my life down to complete the mission then I will because the mission is paramount and everything else isn't important."

Kakashi frowned as the boy spoke. That speech struck _way _too close to home for him. Images of a boy with orange goggles and an infuriating habit of being late flashed before his eyes. A silent plead to help save a teammate, cold refusal, death of a comrade, arm through the chest of anoth-

"-answer your question for you?" Naruto's voice interrupted Kakashi's dark memories and the man shook his head slightly. It seems like he'd have to fix Naruto's nasty little adherence to the shinobi rules before something happened like it did in the past. Honestly, what kind of idiot reads the rulebook anymore anyway?

"You're all so stupid!" The boy shouted angrily before suddenly bolting out of the room. Tsunami watched his retreating form sadly and Tazuna merely shook her head.

The old man seemed to want to justify the boy's actions, "I'm sorry. Inari wasn't always like that. When he was younger, he was a very pleasant boy. His fath-" Naruto listened to the speech about the man who had saved Inari and then become his role model silently. His death was a sad affair and Naruto understood the boy's pain but to lay down and die like he was doing only seemed like a spit into the face of the image of the man he once idolised.

Resigning to your own fate was _so damn pathetic._

* * *

"So my lovely cherubs, are you ready for some training? I might warn you though that this will be a long road, of many great perils and terrible danger. To accept this path you'll have to brave your greatest fears, battle your greatest dem-"

"We get it sensei!" It was Sakura who interrupted him and Naruto silently thanked her. They were standing in a forest in front of some unusually tall trees to apparently train, although Naruto thought he knew what they were going to do. It was a good thing he was too injured to be involved or he would go mad from doing something he'd already learnt.

"Alright Sakura-chan, if we must I'll skip the intro?" At the furious nod he continued, "Today we will be... Climbing trees!" One could literally _feel _the sweatdrops behind Sakura and Sasuke's head.

"How does climbing trees help us become better shinobi?" Sasuke, always the power hungry sycophant.

"Ahh but we'll be climbing trees with just our feet." The two looked at him like he was an alien and so Kakashi decided an example was in order. "Watch... Like so." As he walked straight up the trunk Sakura gasped while Sasuke just watched in mild interest, "You have to channel chakra to your feet to stick to the tree. It's good for chakra control and to build up your reserves so get to it! You'll be doing this for the day." As he said that Sasuke immediately ran to the tree and tried to do so. He soon found himself slipping after the third step.

Sakura tentatively tried herself and went up almost halfway before flipping off, "This is easy!" Naruto decided it was worth coming to watch if only to see the abject horror on Sasuke's face at being beaten by someone else - a girl no less; the travesty!

As he leaned on the tree he decided he'd get some needed shut-eye, "Naruto." Nevermind.

"Kakashi-sensei?" His book was nowhere in site and the tone he used with Naruto suggested they were about to have a _very _serious conversation.

"Do you mind taking a walk with me?" He shrugged and stood to follow the man. As soon as they weren't in earshot of the other two Kakashi turned and looked at him with a frown on his face.

"Why didn't your wound heal immediately? I was under the impression your tenant gave you heightened healing...?" It was posed as a question although Naruto himself wasn't sure he knew the answer. He himself was confused when he had woken with a half split chest.

**"An unforeseen circumstance caused by the merging of our senses." **Oh, the voices in his head were back - how nice.

_"What do you mean?" _He hoped the Kyuubi could hear the visualization of his thoughts.

**"Due to the alterations made to your seal my chakra interacted with your body in a way I did not expect." **Naruto frowned, he had liked his super-healing, **"Fortunately, it doesn't seem permanent. From what I can understand your previous healing-rate will reemerge in a few weeks." **That'd be after the mission. Not something Naruto was entirely comfortable with.

_"Is there any way to speed it up?"_

"**If you were to harness my chakra for a small period of time it might accelerate the acclimatization process. Around a tail would suffice." **Naruto balked as the demon spoke. A tail of chakra wasn't exactly easy to explain to the town nor his teammates. No, they'd just have to wait it out.

"-ruto?" Kakashi's voice pierced through the internal dialogue.

Naruto looked at the man apologetically, "I was being given an _explanation _for the issue, sorry." The man waved his apology away and so he continued, "Apparently I won't have my healing for a few weeks due to some stuff going on in my body." He didn't bother to mention the shortcut - no point in telling him something that wasn't going to happen.

The masked man seemed to ponder on what he had said for a moment before adding, "Alright, well just be more careful then okay? You're going to be a boring old mortal for a while now... Like me!"

* * *

The sight of Sakura helping an exhausted Sasuke back to the house was something Naruto was never going to forget. It must have been some sort of Karmic retribution for the amount of laughing Sasuke had directed at him the previous night. Regardless, Naruto delighted in the situation. As they finally trudged into house Sakura dumped Sasuke on a seat at the table while Tsunami began serving up the food. The boy glared at anything that moved as he sat in the seat, clearly angry with the progress he had made.

Naruto decided he'd take pity on the boy and so spoke up as the food was being place in front of them, "Sasuke?" His angry gaze shifted to Naruto, "You've been letting too much chakra get to your feet as you get higher. Try to reduce the fluctuations." The boy stared at him silently for a moment before nodding slowly.

"Thanks." Naruto waved off his response. Kakashi, having snuck into the room while Naruto was talking silently grinned at the whole situation. They seemed to be progressing along quite well in teamwork. As he spoke though another concern entered the fray as the small boy, Inari, seemed like he wanted to say something.

"Why are you still here?" The boy's voice interrupted the otherwise amiable air of the meal. Naruto's eyebrow arched up in irritation and the boy took it as a signal to keep speaking, "There's no point even trying. I don't get you."

"Because we're not scared like you. We're willing to stand up and fight for your grandfather and your village." Suprisingly, it was Sasuke who broke the silence with a reply.

The boy sniveled before adding his on retort, "What do you even know anyway? You think you're so tough, just cause your shinobi nothing bad will happen right? You don't know how hard life can be." As he finished speaking the room suddenly dropped in temperature and a dark pressure began to push on every individual in the area. Everyone slowly broke into a sweat before Naruto stood angrily and looked at Inari with barely hidden contempt.

"You've watched the life of someone dear to you slowly sap out of their eyes," Inari's eyes watered at the reminder and Kakashi internally winced at the tactless way Naruto spoke, "So to a degree I understand your pain but tell me; have you ever watched someone die because of _you_? And I don't mean like how my mother died giving birth to me, or how when I was four a chunin died protecting me from an Iwa asassination attempt. No, I mean you actively had a part in their death." Naruto stopped for a moment to let the words sink in.

"Have you ever watched the eyes of someone incredibly dear to you slowly dim as you have your arm through their fucking _chest_? No? Have you walked through life scorned by your people and seen as a disappointment by your father? No? Then don't talk to me about a bad fucking life." Naruto stood up, seething in his very being, "You self-pitying _fool_." And with that, he stormed off out of the building - the wound in his chest beginning to bleed as he did so.

The room was silent for a moment as everyone took in what had just happened. The victim of the tirade himself was sitting silently in confusion while his family looked to Kakashi for guidance. The man in question merely sighed and slammed his book shut before leaning on the wall. Sasuke had his head tilted like he was trying to decipher some sort of code while Sakura's mouth laid open in shock.

She had watched the whole thing in abject horror, "What the hell was that?" Sasuke felt inclined to agree with her.

"Ano, Naruto hasn't had the most pleasant life Sakura." He spoke carefully.

"But what was that about killing someone close to him? At least, I think that's what he meant."

Kakashi rubbed his temple as he continued, "When he was eleven he was out on a mission with his sensei when everything went terribly, _terribly _wrong. His enemy made Naruto kill his sensei, probably the closest person in his life at the time, as some sort of sick twisted way to break the boy." Sakura gasped as he spoke while Sasuke clenched his fists.

"Why?" Sasuke interrupted.

"We don't really know. It's the main reason behind Naruto's _unpleasant _attitude. He used to be such a nice boy." Kakashi sighed as he immersed himself in memories of a better time. Shrugging off the past, Kakashi looked at his two students; it was time to focus on the present.

* * *

When he woke up he knew he had fucked up; the blood that drenched his clothes was obvious enough. Slowly moaning in pain he sat up and leaned on a tree that was near him. As he looked over his body he realised that not only had he reopened his chest wound _again _but had grazed all down his arm and was bleeding profusely. It must have been caused by the vicious punches he had been doing last night. This normal healing rate sure wasn't easy to get used.

Naruto looked around the area, trying to piece together whereabouts he was in the forest. From what he could tell he hand ended up in a clearing near the house but he couldn't be too sure. Rather than standing and making a painful and piteous walk back he leaned back on the tree and closed his eyes slowly. Sleeping here would be just as effective. Before he could do so however, he felt a presence near him.

Kunai were drawn out in either hand and whipped around to protect his face from an approaching hand. As he opened his eyes he realised he had attacked a civilian. He sheepishly put his kunai back in their holster before looking at the person who had moved to touch his face. It was a young women, not yet out of her teens and only slightly older than Naruto. She wore a long kimino that hid her features and seemed to be smiling apprehensively at him as he stared.

"Sorry, I get easily startled." Naruto grumbled out an apology, trying to sound sincere.

The girl merely smiled in reply, "It's probably my fault for approaching you, you're a shinobi aren't you?" As she spoke Naruto grew wary. If she knew he was a shinobi why the hell did she approach him and act so calm when he struck out? Civilians should have reacted badly to such an attack.

"Hai." At her disarming smile he continued, "I'm a genin from Konoha." He perused her response and while he couldn't see any obvious reaction the subtle way her muscles clenched and grip on her clothes tightened he knew that she wasn't simply a civilian.

"Ah, that's so amazing." As she spoke Naruto looked at her hair and realised the hunter nin had had the same style but that had been a male, "By the way, I'm Haku."

"Naruto.

"Tell me, why do you fight?" Then he realised; she was a _he_. He just hid it well. The flatness of the chest and the small adam's apple he could make out revealed the truth to him.

Naruto knew the underlying question and so responsed accordingly, "I fight so that I might never be weak."

"Why don't you want to be weak?"

Naruto paused for a moment and actually contemplated why, "So that I don't lose anyone again. So that I can live without protection." As he spoke he thought about possibly trying to kill the now obvious enemy in front of him but as soon as he thought about it he realised he was too tired and injured from the night before to reasonably trust his skills.

"An admirable concept. So you wish to become the protector, rather than the protected?" He was softly spoken, so much so that if Naruto didn't draw the similarities to him and the hunter-nin he might of gone on thinking he was a woman.

"I guess." Did he really even know? If Naruto were honest his morals were slightly skewered right at the point in time.

She smiled, "That's good because I think when you fight for someone, to protect someone, that is when you become _truly _strong." As she spoke she stood, "I've got to go now Naruto-san. I enjoyed your company." He stood and Naruto watched his retreating form silently.

"I hope we _don't _meet again Haku-san." The boy stopped walking and tensed slightly, before nodding in Naruto's direction and walking off. Naruto sighed, it seemed he wasn't willing to fight either. Rather than returning straight to the house Naruto thought about what Haku had said. Perhaps he was right; perhaps Naruto only needed to fight for others.

* * *

When he returned to the house it was a tense affair; Kakashi and Saske ignored him while Sakura gave him this odd look every time she thought he wasn't watching. Tsunami quickly cleaned his wounds out while Tazuna watched in an alcohol induced silence. The boy, Inari, was nowhere to be seen and so when they had finished dinner Naruto sighed in frustration; he'd have to talk to the boy and with his own mind in such a disarray he wasn't sure it'd go well.

Regardless, he had dug his own grave with this situation and so he asked Tsunami where he could find him. She gave him a suspicious look before saying he was on the roof. Naruto merely nodded before walking up the stairs and then into the attic where there was a small ladder that led out onto the top of the house. As he reached the top he saw the boy, without his usual fishing hat, sitting on the edge staring at the sea. He slowly walked over to him and sat next to the boy. Inari looked at him in a huff as he did so, glaring at him out of the corner of his eyes.

Naruto sighed once again before speaking, "Inari?"

"H-Hai?" It was hesitant and so Naruto was careful with how he spoke.

"I'm sorry." The boy looked at him in confusion, "I've been angry for a while now and it wasn't right to take it out on you; I'm sorry."

The boy stared silently before sniffling slightly and saying, "No, you were right. All I do is cry about how bad life is." He shivered slightly before adding, "I'm just so _scared_." Naruto laughed softly at his reply.

At his look of confusion Naruto eleborated, "That's a part of life, Inari. Do you think I haven't been scared before? It's not fear that defines you - it's the way you react to it." At the boy's attentive expression Naruto continued, "I chose to fight back, to strike at what was scaring me. What did you do?"

"I ran away." The boy looked down in shame as he talked.

"Does that mean you can't change?" The boy looked confused, "You're only eight Inari; people don't expect you to be strong. But how about we prove them wrong?"

"We?"

Naruto smiled and ruffled his hair lightly, "A wise man once told me, _'We fight for the innocent - and for each other.'_ Despite what I might have said, I will lay down my life for you, for your mother or for your grandfather because that's how I've been taught. Fight for the mission, for the people and for what is right." he waited for a few moments for the words to sink in by finally adding, "Now the question is, will you stand up and fight with me? Or will you sit down and be weak?"

Inari sat silently for a few moments, the stars glittering in the distance.

"I'll fight, for my dad - and for everyone else." Naruto smiled at the boy's response and as the boy jumped to hug him he let him do so.

"Then you're my comrade."

* * *

It was the mist that gave it away. It was thick and the foreboding nature of it instantly put the team on alert. Kakashi himself drew a kunai as they walked past the countless bodies strewn across the floor. The bridge was intact but the people themselves weren't. The genin themselves subconsciously tensed in preparation for combat and weren't disappointed when a dark laugh filled the area. Suddenly wind swept some of the mist aside and the team could see two figures standing amonst the carnage.

"So the fabled copy-nin returns; and with his genin team in tow too! How delightful." At this the man smirked, "I still have to pay that blonde brat back after I kill you."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Oh, that easy am I?"

The man guffawed, "I won't be underestimating you this time, Sharingan no Kakashi. While I spill your blood across this bridge Haku will be killing your little children and then the bridge builder will be next," As he spoke he realised the target in question wasn't on the bridge, "Where is that old fool? Hidden in his house? No matter, he'll die soon enough."

As the two shinobi spoke Sasuke turned to look at Naruto and Sakura in confusion, "Where _is _Tazuna-san?"

"He had to go back to the house for today - I guess it's a good thing isn't it?" At her hesitation Naruto nodded.

"The two main problems are here, he should be safe." Sakura seemed relieved at that and their attention soon returned back to the two high-calibre shinobi that were still exchanging words.

It was Kakashi who ended the banter, "I've had enough of this childish business. Stand before me and face your death Zabuza, Demon of Kiri." As he finished speaking he turned to his team and spoke softly, "Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke; Fight his partner - Be careful, he's dangerous." He turned back to Zabuza who was grinning manically.

"Haku, be sure to leave the blonde one alive, I wish to coat my blade in his blood. Otherwise, kill them." The boy in question stood forward and nodded.

"Hai, Zabuza-sama." He drew senbon and without any further delay moved straight at Sakura. While that happened Zaubza and Kakashi both disappeared, moving away from their battle.

Before anyone could react the boy appeared in between them all and viciously hit Sakura. The girl stumbled slightly before falling forward, unconscious from the single hit. Naruto would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all if it wasn't already becoming so dire. The two boys in Team Seven reacted accordingly; Sasuke jumped at the hunter-nin while Naruto caught Sakura as she fell and took her away from the battlefield. As he laid her down he turned to see Sasuke engaging in mortal combat with Haku, both holding each others right hand.

The hunter-nin soon found the upper hand however when he went through one-handed seals and a mirror appeared. He jumped into it and then reappeared behind Naruto. The blonde-haired boy found himself defending a lethal set of attacks but found himself slowly finding the advantage. Sasuke seemed to realise too and so began to smirk. The boy jumped in between the two of them and struck at Haku with a kunai. Unable to block Naruto _and _Sasuke, the boy took the hit - the kunai slicing the flesh on his shoulder. He grunted in pain before retreating quickly.

"You aren't as good as I thought." It was Sasuke who spoke, although Naruto was inclined to agree with him.

The boy merely sighed in sadness, "I had hoped I would avoid having to use this technique. For what it's worth, I'll make your deaths as quick as possible." And with that the boy reappeared next to Naruto out of a mirror and struck him in the chest on top of his still healing wound. Naruto flew backwards from pain and stumbled into Sasuke. Then, before the two of them could react, the boy appeared in front of them and flashed through handseals as they both lay on the ground.

"Makyō Hyōshō no Jutsu!" In a sudden flash twenty-one mirrors of ice appeared around the two of them, all reflecting an image of Haku. Naruto narrowed his eyes in confusion while Sasuke merely stared, "This is my ultimate technique, you will never escape."

Naruto scoffed outwardly and pushed to jump through one of the openings before suddenly being struck backwards by a flash of senbon. He felt his arm go numb from the attack and with a shock realised Haku was trying to disable him with the weapons. Sasuke also seemed to come to the same conclusion and so didn't bother attempting what Naruto had attacked. The tow moved near each other quickly.

"Can you perform a fire jutsu on a mirror?" Naruto asked him quietly.

Sasuke didn't reply and instead flashed through the required handseals before his lungs grew to an enormous size, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" As he shouted he opened his mouth a huge ball of fire began to form in front of him. It stormed forwards and struck one of the mirrors, a blaze of flames encompassing it. Sasuke smirked, sure he had succeeded, but when the smoke and mist dissipated from the scene both Naruto and Sasuke were shocked to see the mirror still standing. It had survived the attack with little to no visible damage.

"Nothing will work, they are unbreakable." Haku's voice pierced the astounded silence, "It seems I must steel my heart for Zabuza-sama and become the shinobi he wishes me to be - I will have to kill you."

Naruto snorted before flashign through his own set of handseals, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Ten replicas of the boy appeared and ran toward the openings in the dome. Before they could make three feet Haku would suddenly appear in front of them, having struck them with snebon. The ten were soon reduced to five before finally becoming mere smoke. Naruto growled angrily before doing the technique again. This time, the ten clones linked up. They pushed forward toward the mirrors and as they neared they threw each other toward the ice. The five that threw the others were quickly dispelled by senbon but the other five reached their targets and, at the same time, struck five different mirrors with a vicious punch.

The moment of success was soon ruined however when it was clear nothing had been done to the mirrors. Instead, the clones were quickly dispatched and Naruto found himself growling in anger once again. Haku himself began to flash in and out of mirrors constantly, peppering the two genin with an unreasonable amount of senbon. Naruto felt his limbs beginning to slow and knew Sasuke was surely feeling the same. After a particularly vicious set of senbon knocked the Uchiha to the ground Naruto gasped in shock while Sasuke merely stared at him in confusion.

Naruto grinned, "Your eyes... Congrats." Sasuke seemed confused for a moment before suddenly looking into a puddle on the ground to see his reflection. Immediately, he saw a pair of angry red eyes staring back at him with two tomoe each. Smirking in reply to Naruto's statement, he stood back up and stared at Haku with new found confidence. The Sharingan would win them this fight - it would have to. Darting to an exit he realised in glee he could actually _see _Haku's attack coming. Everything was like it was in slow motion. He jumped to avoid Haku's senbon before trying to backhand the boy. Instead, he found himself hitting thin air as the hunter-nin returned to the mirrors.

"It seems you have found strength somehow." It was infuriating to here him speak, "No matter, it just means I'll have to end this quicker." At that the boy's speed suddenly increased astronomically and Sasuke found himself unable to block all the senbon. _"N-No! I can see him move! I should be able to stop him!" _Sasuke's thoughts were to a point correct. His use of the Sharingan _should _allow him to counter Haku's movement but the issue was; Sasuke's body couldn't keep up. Mentally, he could see what was happening but physically, he didn't have the speed to fight with Haku.

It was because of this that Sasuke now found himself slowly falling apart, senbon littering his body. Haku looked at him silently as he began to collapse on the floor. Naruto meanwhile had been watching the affair in first joy, having thought Sasuke might be able to counter him, and then horror as the boy was slowly reduced to a crippled mess. The blonde dragged himself over to Sasuke and inspected his injuries.

"You can't keep going, you're going to be incapacitated." That much was obvious, whether through being knocked out or killed was yet to be seen.

"That would be correct." Haku's voice pierced the air and it seemed he was going to make the decision for them as he appeared between the two of them and punched Naruto. The boy skidded across the floor and pain and Haku himself disappeared into the mirrors again before flying out of another and, this time, throwing what looked like a lethal hit of senbon at Sasuke. The boy's eyes shot wide open and he stared at Naruto with fear planted on his face before he collapsed to the floor.

"No!" Naruto screamed in fury. He threw himself over to Sasuke's body and when he felt no pulse tensed in anger, "Not again! Please not again..."

"You have felt this pain before? It is hard to stomach, I know, but he died like a true shinobi."

"**Shut up!**" An explosion of malicious chakra washed over the bridge, coating all who were in the area. It flew around Naruto, the thick power of it enveloping the very air. Haku stared at the boy in confusion and no small amount of terror.

"_What is th-this power?!" _Haku wondered as he watched the stoic boy suddenly become entranced in bloodlust, "_I have to end this now!_" As he said it he rushed at Naruto and tried to prevent the transformation from occurring. He failed.

Naruto looked up as he neared and struck him in the face with a chakra-laced punch. The boy flew through the air at an insane speed and smashed into a mirror. Rather than being absorbed by the mirror he was carried into it by the power of the punch and it shattered. He kept flying for a few metres before finally skidding to a halt. With almost all his ribs broken and ice shards stabbing through his body the dome fell apart, no longer being supported by the now dying hunter-nin. Haku rolled onto his side and began to cough up blood. As Naruto approached he looked at the boy sadly.

"I've failed Zabuza-sama. You are too strong," He paused and pulled off the half broken mask, "Please kill me Naruto-kun, I'm a broken tool." Naruto was entirely intending to do that and began to stalk toward the boy with the chakra of Kyuubi whipping around him.

He paused at the sound of chirping birds.

Haku's head darted toward the location of the sound and his face filled with terror. He flashed through handseals and a mirror appeared next to him. Before Nauto could react he was jumping into it.

"NO!"

* * *

It was a good thing he had caught Zabuza with his dogs because from the feeling of that chakra Kakashi might have to contend with a very, _very _angry Naruto soon. He walked toward the swordsman, who was being held by a group of his dogs. They bit into his body in different areas and rather than struggle the man had seemingly accepted his fate. He looked at Kakashi with an unreadable expression.

"This wasn't how it was meant to end." There was no despair in his voice, nor was there anger. Instead, there was calm acceptance of his impending death.

"It seems like I'll have to cut this little meeting a bit shorter then I usually would - I have some of my own problems to deal with." Kakashi spoke slowly as he walked toward the demon of the mist. He held his right hand out on his side and drew chakra around it. As he did so a blue ball began to form in his palm. Lightning began to screech and move around his hand.

He found himself in front of Zabuza and thrust his hand forwards, screaming, "Chidori!"

His hand was through a chest but it wasn't the right one. Zabuza's little accomplice stood in front of him, holding his arm to prevent it from going further.

Zabuza, who had been watching silently, began to speak, "What a great tool I have sharpened! To save me like this..." He began a barking laugh, "Time to meet your end Kakashi!" As he said this the dogs disappeared, no longer being sustained by Kakashi's low chakra levels. The masked man knew that blade was coming down before he saw it and so jumped away before it landed, his hand leaving Haku's chest in a loud squelch.

The two stared off, "I didn't expect this to happen..." Kakashi's voice wasn't alarmed, more resigned to the fact that he'd have to keep fighting. He didn't have any more time to ponder however as Zabuza ran at him with Kubikiribōchō. He jumped to avoid the first swing and ducked under the second before darting forward and punching the demon of the mist in the face. They both retreated for a moment, Zabuza glaring at him in anger.

Kakashi sighed and announced, "While your accomplice may prevented your immediate death you are much too low on chakra to be able to continue the fight." The sword-user didn't respond and instead growled at the man. Kakashi, to his credit, ignored the reaction and darted toward him. As he neared he flashed through handsigns, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Two Kakashi's suddenly appeared and distracted Zabuza. While they did so Kakashi went through another set of seals and whispered,"Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu." Kakashi warped into the bridge itself, heavily damaging the area he was on as he did so, and traveled underneath Zabuza. The man hadn't noticed his deception and so was quickly dragged under the bridge with only his head sticking out. As Kakashi emerged from the ground he walked over to the man slowly, chakra exhaustion beginning to settle in, and pulled out a kunai.

"No!" The temporary taste of life had made Zabuza terrified of facing the loss of it again. As Kakashi moved closer he became more and more stressed in his movement, jerking his head to try and escape. It was all for naught however, as Kakashi soon found himself standing in front of the man's head with a kunai. He bent down and without any further words slit his throat. The man garbled as he choked on his own blood before suddenly becoming still. Kakashi stood back up and began to hobble over to Naruto, who had been watching the whole thing in shocked silence.

"Naruto?" At the boy's nod he continued, "You're in charge."

"Nani?" The boy was understandibly confused.

"I'm going to pass out now..." As he said it, the copy-nin stumbled forwards only to be quickly caught by the only conscious member of Team Seven. Naruto held him up for a moment before readjusting him onto his back and slowly dragging himself and his teacher over to where Sasuke lay prone. He sighed despondently at the sight of the dead boy and was about to summon a clone to carry him only for an eye to open weakly and stare back at him.

Frozen in disbelief, neither boy said anything for a moment. Sasuke seemed to realise where he was as he sat up quickly in fear of their opponents. This didn't seem to go down well with his body as he experienced a fit of pain. Naruto watched in concern before he sighed in relief; a little pain was worth living. The boy tried to stand only to sway on the spot for a moment before sitting back down.

"Just wait a second, I need to go check on Sakura then we'll get moving." He explained to Sasuke.

"What happened to him?" As Sasuke spoke he gestured to the limp body of Kakashi on Naruto's back.

Naruto moved to get a better hold of the man before saying, "Chakra exhaustion - he killed both of them and then fell unconscious." He chose not to add the part about him harnessing the nine-tails power and almost killing Haku. Sasuke seemed satisfied with the explanation and so sat still as Naruto moved further down to where Sakura lay unconscious. He put Kakashi down softly next to her before limping back over to Sasuke and helping him up After a long trip of supporting Sasuke the two soon found themselves sitting next to the two other members of the team. Naruto slowly walked over to the girl and gently shook her. After no response he shot a small amount of chakra into her body and her eyes fluttered up in surprise.

"W-What?" She was understandably confused.

"You were knocked unconscious by Haku. Don't worry, they're both dead now - Kakashi-sensei saw to that. He's experiencing chakra exhaustion though and Sasuke himself can't walk without help... So I'm _really _hoping you'll be able to move. Can you?" The girl sat up as he spoke before steadily standing to her feet.

"Y-Yeah, my limbs are just stiff from disuse." As she spoke Naruto nodded in affirmation, "So what now?"

"Yes, what?" Sasuke also voiced his concerns.

Naruto rubbed his temple for a moment before saying, "We'll go back to the house and rest. Now that those two are dead we shouldn't encounter any more problems." The two seemed to accept his decision and Sakura moved over to help Sasuke walk, his arm slung around her shoulder. If they weren't so tired Naruto was sure the girl would be over the moon with the position she was in.

As they walked slowly back to the house Naruto couldn't help but feel a little relieved with how things had worked out. With an A-rank missing nin on their tails and two greenhorn genin this mission had the potential to have been one big clusterfuck. Fortunately, with Kakashi's skill snd a bucket-load of luck they had somehow managed to escape relatively unscathed. As he walked out of the tree-line and up to the house however, his opinion changed. He heard Sakura gasp and begin to violently retch on the grass while Sasuke simply stared in shock. He himself stared at the scene greeting them in fury.

There was Tazuna, lying motionless at the doorway, with his stomach split open and his entrails hanging out.

* * *

**A/N: I've always liked the idea of killing off Tazuna in some way. So... I did! Next chapter will be how the team deals with the consequences.**

**Sasuke isn't going to be too angsty in this fanfic because, well, his brother didn't go all homicidal on the clan and kill everyone. I'm going to expand on the issue though - the reason why he wasn't ordered to do so etc etc. All in due time my friends! Sakura is going to be moderately pleasant if not irritatingly innocent. I see her more as the moral measuring stick; Kakashi is a war veteran while Sasuke and Naruto have been brought up harshly so Sakura is really the only truly 'innocent' character in the team.**


	7. Wave Arc: Take Me With You

**The Shadow Of A Flash**

_Chapter 7: Take Me With You_

* * *

Naruto knew he had to act fast; Sasuke was frozen in shock and Sakura was busy puking her guts up. That left him with their unconscious sensei and whole pile of shit to work out. He had been elected leader for the moment through simple process of elimination and that meant he had to act accordingly. So without thinking any further on the eviscerated body in front of him he looked at his two teammates with a smoldering gaze.

"Sasuke!" The boy whipped his head to him in surprise, his fear knocked out of his system from the pure fury on Naruto's face, "Sakura!" She finally seemed to be calming down from the horrible site of their benefactor's remains, "There's no time to sit like little _kids_!" He moved over to Sakura, "Take Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke, can you move now?" Sakura quickly moved to take the strain off of Naruto's shoulders, seemingly going with the flow as her brain caught up with the situation.

"Yeah, sorta." It wasn't the best answer but it meant Sasuke could do what he wanted him to.

"Good, move the body out of the house." At his wincing expression Naruto stared at him coldly, "Do it! We don't have time to get squeamish." Sasuke hesitantly nodded before moving toward the body with a limp.

"W-What are we going to do Naruto?" Sakura's panic-stricken voice pierced the area.

"You're going to go into that house, treat Sasuke and watch over Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura looked at her in confusion, "What are you gonna do?"

It was then that Sakura would remember the gaze he looked at her with forever. A mixture of calm acceptance and resignation with barely restrained anger.

"I'm going to find Inari and Tsuanami." He paused for a moment before adding, "And they're all going to die." It didn't matter who, they had made him fail his mission and they had harmed innocents. In his eyes they were as good as dead already.

"You can't do tha-"

"Sakura!" She stopped talking, "Kakashi is unconscious, Sasuke is injured... You have to protect them." He turned away, "I'll do what's necessary." She didn't answer him this time - he didn't let her. He left the area in a quick shunshin and followed the obvious tracks left by whoever had killed Tazuna. He subconsciously licked his lips in preparation, Kyuubi's blood-lust was building inside of him and for once he didn't care.

* * *

He felt himself trip as he moved through the trees and quickly balanced himself before he ended up falling off the branch entirely, resuming his manic pace. The time for patience had gone, every second he wasted Inari and his mother was a second closer to death. As he moved he almost snorted in derision at the trail of broken trees and slashed plants that he was following; these excuses for warriors were leading him right to their base.

As he thought on the base his eyes narrowed and he prepared to face the undoubtedly grim sight that he was about to meet. Killing Tazuna meant they had no reason to take the boy and his mother; whatever they had planned for them was entirely for their own reasons. Cutthroat warriors who were willing to kill in cold blood were usually not the type to take a boy to look after them and when they took a woman captive... Well, it meant only one thing.

He _had _to get to the base, before it was too late. When they got back to Konoha he knew he was going to get chewed out for being so reckless but it didn't matter. All that mattered was the safety of the two innocents caught up in this villainous affair. As he moved he realised he was nearing a large building of some sort; a warehouse. It wasn't a regular one though, it seemed much more imposing and the little figures walking around were obvious enough to Naruto - guards to protect whoever was inside.

He picked up his speed and barreled into the clearing. Night had fallen some time when he was giving chase and so he was impossible to see with his black gear. He quickly grabbed his headband off his head and stuffed it into his waistpouch before sneaking up on a guard patrolling the area. Slitting the man's throat quickly, he dragged the body back into the forest and hid it behind a tree.

He then flashed through a set of handseals, "Henge no Jutsu!" This was ridiculous; he didn't know the mannerisms of the man or even his name. It didn't matter though, he didn't have time to meticulously plan out his infiltration like he usually would have. Instead, he moved instinctively, killing the man and taking his identity before he even knew. He strutted back out into the opening and this time walked around the perimetre of the building to find the entrance. He soon found himself in front of two large wooden doors with a pair of guards leaning on the walls. As he neared one of them gestured for him to come over.

"Back so soon Seiji?" The man's ugly voice irritated Naruto's eardrums, "So fucking lazy! Whatever, just get into the fucking building and outta my sight." As he spoke he moved to the door and opened it. Internally, Naruto smirked; it seemed his identity, Seiji, had bad blood with this man. That was only good for him as it meant he could avoid a long conversation with the man.

He didn't so much as glance at the man as he strode through the door and into the imposing building. Bright lights burned his eyes for a moment before he realised he had walked into what appeared to be a sort of mess hall. Ronin and cutthroats of all kinds sat around tables drinking alcohol and shamelessly flirting with barely-clad women. Ignoring the spectacle, Naruto stalked through the room and found himself walking through a quiet hall. As he saw a man walking opposite him he decided he would risk asking for information. After all, with the empty hall he could kill him and dispose of the body without arousing suspicion.

"Oi, oi!" He began to speak and the man looked at him in something akin to frustration.

"What the fuck do you want Sheiji?"

"I'm just wonderin' where the boss is keeping the new prisoners." As he spoke Naruto tried to mold his voice into how the other scumbags talked.

The man looked at him oddly for a moment, "Tryin' to talk like us now are ya? Won't change nothin', you'll still be a fucking loser." Naruto ignored the man and he seemed angry with the fact that he didn't rise to the bait, "He's keepin' em in the basement, like always. Now fuck off." And Naruto did just that, briskly walking away from the man and heading the opposite way. The man stared at him for a moment, "Oh Sheiji you stupid fuck, take the east staircase, it's way faster." As he said this he pointed at a door on the left of Naruto and the boy simply nodded in appreciation. Satisfied, his supposed brother-in-arms walked off.

Naruto opened the door and found himself on a long stone staircase. Candles flickered on either side of him and along with the moss-covered walls gave the boy a distinct sense of it being a sort of dungeon. All in all, Naruto was growing more and more worried the further he walked down the stairs. He finally reached the bottom and saw a row of jail cells with metal bars on them. As he walked past the little rooms he saw bodies littered in them, filth surrounding the decaying corpses. He internally shivered from the brutality of it all and vowed that he would get the two out of this place. He soon neared a particular cell that had a pair of guards standing in front of it. They saw him approach and raised their weapons.

"Hey, hey! Back off!" He tried to approach them but it seemed they didn't know 'Sheiji'.

"Hah, sorry man. I'm just looking for the two new prisoners we got today."

The man looked at him suspiciously, "And why would you need to do that?"

"Just gotta make sure they're still good is all." The man seemed deflate as he said that, buying Naruto's lie.

He pointed behind him as he spoke, "The brat's in there..." His face turned into a perverted leer, "And the woman... Yeah she was fun alright. Died so fast though." Fury struck his soul as the man finished speaking. He prayed to god he was wrong but Naruto knew deep down that Tsunami was already. Calmly, he stalked in between the two of them and the man that hadn't talked yet looked at him in anger.

"What the fuck man! We said to back off!" As he spoke a small whimper could be heard in the jail cell behind him. It seemed he had woken Inari up. Naruto raised his, or rather Sheiji's, hands up shakily to apologise but as he did so he palmed both men in the throat, chakra lacing the hit. They collapsed and began to choke in horror as their throat caved in. Naruto allowed the henge to stop before pulling tow kunai out and stabbing the two in the head for good measure. Their bodies dropped, unresponsive.

"N-Naruto?" It was a broken voice but the raw hope enveloping his tone spoke volumes to Naruto.

"Yeah, it's me. Come to the front of the cell for me." As he said that the boy hesitantly crawled forwards, legs running through the mud and filth on the floor before Naruto finally saw him in the light of the candles. Aside from a few bruises dotting on his body he seemed relatively unharmed and so Naruto thanked the gods for that small bit of good news. The boy's lip quivered as he saw Naruto, as if he couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Stay away from the door, I'm breaking it up." The boy obeyed and so Naruto harnessed the control of wind chakra that he had to cut through the metal bars. Slowly and surely he managed to cut through them until eventually they broke off with a loud crash. The two stood staring at each other for a few moments before the boy suddenly lurched forward and jumped at Naruto. To his credit, the Namikaze merely returned the embrace as the boy sobbed restlessly into his chest.

"I was so scared and they took mum and then I-I stood up for her like you said but they just knocked me away..." Naruto didn't bother to ask how Tazuna had died, the boy was in too much stress to handle such questioning. He merely let the boy sob out his frustrations, "I was _so _weak, I couldn't save her-"

"Hush, there wasn't anything you could do." The boy only continued to sob into his chest. As the boy cried Naruto heard a bang behind him from the staircase.

"Who the fuck are you!?" It was one of those ronin, he could tell from the voice. Naruto quickly turned and put himself in front of Inari before throwing a kunai and hitting the man dead in the chest. He fell to the floor quickly but the damage had been done, everyone knew Naruto was in the building.

"Inari?" The boy looked at him in terror, "It's time to go." As he spoke he quickly grabbed the boy and carried him piggy-back style before running toward the staircase that he had come down from. As he neared the top two ronin blocked his path so he quickly pulled out a kunai and, blocking a sword strike from one, slid his kunai down the blade and onto the man's hand. Fingers were shaved off in a show of blood and gore and as the man screamed in pain Naruto kicked him into his friend and ran through the doorway.

He came face to face with at least a dozen men, all staggering from the alcohol in their system, before he flashed through handseals and held his hands out in front of him as he shouted, "Futon: Daitoppa no Jutsu!" A huge gust of wind flew around the hall and knocked the men in front of him. Some crashed into each other while others ended up flying through the walls from the sheer power of the wind. One particular individual ended up impaled on the drawn sword of another ronin, bleeding out in the carnage.

Naruto ignored the carnage and ran through the bodies, jumping over the bodies he couldn't avoid. As he did so Inari's grip on his neck tightened as he held on for dear life. They soon ended up in the mess hall from earlier and, while less occupated than before, there were still far too many enemies for Naruto to confidently defend his companion from. So as he moved forward Naruto drew out three kunai, each with explosive notes attached. The first he threw across the room and it quickly blew a hole in the wall that led out into the forest. The next two were thrown on either side of the roof and pinned into the support beams.

Before blowing them up Naruto shouted, "Hold your breath!" He quickly activated the explosive notes and just before they exploded Naruto pumped an incredible amount of chakra into his legs before performing a shunshin toward the hole in the wall. They flew out of the building too fast for the human eye to follow and soon landed in the tree line. As they landed Naruto collapsed to the floor; shunshin was _not _meant to be used for that sort of distance or speed and he could feel his legs straining from the pressure. If he had the time to check he was sure he fractured the bones from the raw amount of chakra he had pumped through them.

Inari, luckily, wasn't affected as he was simply taken along for the ride. Regardless, the boy was lying on the floor from the loss of balance the shunshin had given him. He stood shakily and wobbled around from the effects before Naruto picked him up bridal style and began sprinting further away from the now collapsing building. Behind him he could hear the screams of pain and terror as the walls of the warehouse fell down around the men inside. He pushed further away and his legs began to scream from the pressure; he had _definitely _broken something.

Ignoring the pain Naruto held the boy tightly in his arms and kept running, hoping desperately he would make it back to the house before collapsing. He knew he wouldn't be followed as the employees of Gato would be hard pressed dealing with their own casualties let alone chasing down a trained shinobi for a mere boy. It was because of this info that Naruto drew comfort in the half-success of his self-imposed mission. He had saved Inari, now all that was left was to get to safety.

Oh and explain to the boy that his mother was dead. Yeah, that was gonna suck.

* * *

Sakura looked at her sensei hesitantly; he had woken a few hours ago and when they had explained Naruto's absence he had looked furious, depressed and terrified all at the same time. With him unable to move from the chakra exhaustion he was experiencing their only option was to sit tight. Sasuke was in no position to move and Kakashi was appalled at the very idea of letting Sakura chase Naruto down alone.

"A-Ano, shouldn't he be back yet?" Sakura realised it was her own worried voice that was breaking the silence and cursed herself for her fear.

Kakashi looked at her with that eye-smile of his, although it didn't feel the same with the anger flowing off of the man, "Maa, Naruto is a talented little boy. He'll be fine." As he spoke he couldn't help but wince at the insecurity of his own words and wondered what he would do if the boy died. His teammates dying; yeah that sucked but he dealt with it. The countless comrades lost; he held himself together for the most part. A student; not something he wanted to have to handle. Let alone telling the boy's father he died. God, he wouldn't even have to worry about dealing with the guilt - he'd be dead anyway.

It was almost as if their prayers were answered when the door of the house slammed open and Naruto ran into it, collapsing as he reached the three of them in the sitting room. Sakura stood up quickly in surprise before moving over to the exhausted boy. Sasuke slowly hobbled over while Kakashi simply stared. He had something in his hands and as he examined it he realised that it was the child, Inari. Aside from a few bruises the boy looked fine, somewhat terrified from the way he was gripping Naruto's clothes but physically ok nonetheless. Upon further inspection of Naruto himself Kakashi realised he could see the tell-tale sign of exhaustion; not so much from chakra use but from a lack of sleep and haunted look that suggested he had been surrounded in death for _hours_.

It was Sakura who spoke first, "Naruto!" She looked over the boy in panic.

"D-Don't worry about me. C-Check the b-boy." He was gasping from all the running but as far as the team could tell he wasn't too badly injured and so Sakura did as he said, moving to take Inari out of his hands. As she did so the boy shrunk from her hands however and held onto the Namikaze as if his life depended on it. Sakura held up her hands in a form of appeasement, trying to show she meant no harm. The boy hesitantly moved out of Naruto's grasp before letting Sakura check him over.

"He's ok, just a few bruises." As she spoke she saw the relief in Naruto's eyes.

"Oh. Good." And with that he fell forwards, head hitting the floor. Sakura gasped in shock and moved to check him over before realising he had fallen unconscious. Kakashi knew what had happened as soon as he fell. The boy had pumped chakra through his body to stay awake and as soon as he had stopped his body went into recovery mode.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan - he's just really, _really _tired." Although, from what he could see it wasn't Sakura who needed consoling. Rather, it was Inari who had looked at Naruto's collapse with a terrified expression. Oh, that reminded him; he should find out what happened. He looked at the despondent boy and thought how best to word his question.

"Inari," He spoke with a softness not usually heard from him, "What exactly _happened_?" At the boy's confusion he added, "With Naruto, I mean."

The boy looked at him before speaking slowly, "They had me in a cell and Naruto snuck in and h-he killed the guards then he got me and he took out like fifteen more before," The boy looked at him with a sort of malicious expression, "He made the building fall down on top of everyone. And he ran and ran and ran until we got here..." Kakashi nodded carefully the whole way through his explanation.

"And what about Naruto? Did he hurt himself in any way?" The boy frowned for a moment, his face scrunched up as he tried to remember the events of the night.

"He... He was holding his leg in pain when we got out but then he sorta ignored it and kept running." Kakashi sighed as he spoke and ran a hand through his hair. It was just like Naruto to dismiss a potentially crippling injury in favor of continuing whatever self-imposed quest he had going. Although _this _time he might be inclined to agree that was the better option out of continuing or staying put. Not that he would let the boy know that though.

* * *

His eyes fluttered open to the sight of a wooden roof and low support beams. Dazedly rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Naruto sat up slowly and shook his head to wake himself up. He was in one of the rooms of the house as far as he could tell which meant that they were safe for the most part from Gato's thugs. Obviously he didn't see them as a threat anymore considering the loss of Tazuna.

"I see you're awake." Kakashi's voice was sickly sweet and Naruto knew immediately the man was angry with him.

"To a degree." He was playing the cautious game.

"So... Mind telling me what on earth possessed you to go gallivanting in the woods?" The damnable crinkle eye-smile was ever present.

Naruto looked down at the floor as he spoke, "They were in trouble."

"_They?_"_  
_

"Tsunami and Inari." Naruto's cheeks flushed in anger.

Kakashi merely sighed, "Ano, I'm not going to tell you off," Naruto seemed relieved for a moment, "But your father certainly will." Flushed red cheeks returned to his face,"That was reckless going alone and he won't be very happy." Naruto didn't respond as he imagined the angry tirade he'd have to experience from the Hokage. "Besides that, do you know what happened to Inari's mother? The boy hasn't mentioned anything and I didn't want to push him."

"She's dead." He didn't elaborate, Kakashi wouldn't need further explanation.

The man instead just rubbed his temple, "I would tell him but I think he needs to hear it from you." At Naruto's confused face he went into more detail, "The boy has been through a lot and he seems to have decided that you're his _support_. While you were unconscious he was deathly quiet and obviously more afraid then he was when he first got back." Naruto once again didn't respond and instead went into deep thought about the issue; he wasn't good at emotional problems and he certainly couldn't help the boy. Usually he was the one who needed support - but then he couldn't turn his back on the child.

_"I guess I'll just have to wait and see." _He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Now, onto more important things..." Naruto looked at the man oddly as Kakashi spoke, "Time for you to stand up!" As he said it Naruto shrugged and followed his orders, slowly standing. Before he managed to put weight on his feet he winced in pain and fell back down to the floor. "I knew it! You've fractured both legs. How _tragic._" He glared at the man as he stared back at him with that infuriating one eye smile of his.

"Although, you probably need the cripple act to get some sympathy when you face off against Hokage-sama." He quipped. Naruto looked at him despondently, willing the man to fall to ash before his eyes. Instead, the man whipped out his porn book and began to giggle.

* * *

Inari walked into the room quietly. When Kakashi had told him to go see Naruto he had known something was wrong. He was eight but he wasn't stupid; they were hiding something from him. Nevertheless, he followed the man's command and now found himself standing in front of a bedridden Naruto. The boy was gazing at him with an imperceptible emotion in his eyes. Although, if Inari were to try and read them he would say there was pity there.

"Inari," Naruto started to speak as he gazed at the boy, hat lost during the escape from the warehouse, "There's something you need to know." He paused and waited for the boy's response.

"H-Hai?" Now he _knew _something was up.

"It's about your mother," The boy shuddered, they hadn't spoken about her when he had asked.

"No!"

"Inari." Naruto was soft-spoken now.

The boy sniveled, "D-Don't say it." Naruto sighed and beckoned him closer. As he neared he sat down on the futon next to Naruto.

"I'm sorry." And the blond didn't say anything more. He didn't need to; Inari was a smart boy, he could read between the lines. That much was obvious from the way the boy had begun to sob with his eyes downcast on the floor.

_"I'm alone!" _That, more than his father's execution, his grandfather's assassination and his mother's murder, was the worst part of it all. Not only was everyone he held dear dead but he was alone. So, _so _alone. He sobbed for a few moments and Naruto watched him sadly, he knew only a part of what the boy was feeling but he was in unfamiliar territory when it came to such a monumental loss. The two sat there for what must have been half an hour before the boy slowly looked up.

"Take me with you!" The boy practically shouted at Naruto. His eyes were still wet from tears but within them held a new determination.

"Nani?"

"There's nothing left for me here. Take me with you! I wanna be a shinobi I wanna-" A gut wrenching sob escaped his throat, "I wanna stop this from happening again."

"Are you sure? The shinobi life - it isn't easy." Naruto was taken aback by this. He had expected crying and denial but not furious determination.

"I need to be stronger. I-I don't wanna go through this again!" He had stopped crying now and was looking at Naruto fiercely. Naruto didn't reply; how could you reply to such a declaration? He had heard of people making such vows over the death of relatives but he hadn't expected Inari, a boy of only eight, to do so. He wondered for a moment if he _could _take him. Certainly the academy would take the boy in; one town's orphan is Konoha's loyal shinobi. Some of the greatest shinobi to exist were baptised in the death of their parents or family. It was what else the boy was asking. He didn't want just a trip to Konoha, he was asking for Naruto himself to help him and Naruto wasn't sure if he cou-

"_Please._" It was that desperate, anguish filled voice that made Naruto's decision for him. He knew that voice - it was what he had sounded like in the presence of Itachi after Yamato's death.

"Ok."

* * *

**A/N: So there you have it, Inari is going to Konoha, the mission is a disaster and the bridge is unfinished. ****Inari is going to have a minor role in the story. I have something planned but I'm working out how to implement it. Oh, and _yes _he will be a shinobi. To what extent remains to be seen. ****Next chapter will be them leaving Wave and, to make this clear, they _have _failed the mission. The bridge won't be getting built any time soon. I have plans to fix that though so don't worry!**

**Before you say anything; Naruto was already exhausted from having used the Kyuubi's chakra against Haku so running through a gang hideout was always gonna tire him out, hence the whole collapsing thing in the house. He also _did _fracture both legs but it's not serious and more of a plot device to bring out the Hokage's ire next chapter.**

**Also, sorry about the short chapter - I just wanted to pump this update out quick and I had planned to write another 3-4K for it but I just felt like the chapter would end somewhat appropriately if I cut it off at the scene I did. I promise to make up for it. Besides, you should be happy with the speed right? :D**


	8. Chunin Exams Arc: You've Doomed Me

**The Shadow Of A Flash**

_Chapter 8: You've Doomed Me!_

* * *

The five of them stood in front of the house somberly and stared at the now uninhabited building. Kakashi had his book out and Sakura seemed to be glaring at him out of the corner of her eye while Naruto was wielding a pair of crutches they had bought for an exorbitant price from the nearby markets. Sasuke was staring at the proceedings with a grim look on his face although it was ruined by the countless bandages adorning his body. Inari stood next to Naruto, tugging lightly on the boy's leg.

"We should get going." Kakashi spoke with more aloofness than usual.

"Hai." It was a depressed chorus of replies that came out of the genin and Inari's mouth.

They didn't say anything more and simply turned to leave. As they walked away and into the treeline back toward Konoha Inari seemed distressed with something. He kicked the dirt angrily and glared at anything they came across. Finally, he stopped walking and turned to look at them all quietly.

"Will Wave ever be safe?" He hid the question well, but the undertones of _'will my family ever be avenged?' _were obvious to the group. Sakura looked at the boy in confusion while Naruto and Sasuke merely shrugged, not wanting to upset him any more than he already was.

"I can't say for sure, but I know Hokage-sama won't be too happy with what happened here," He ruffled Inari's head softly, "He'll want to do something about it." The man sighed before looking intently at the boy, "Don't dwell on the past too much, trust me when I say it only makes it worse." The boy didn't respond to what he said, looking down at the floor. Kakashi seemed to take this as the sign that the conversation was over and so the group resumed the walk back to the village.

* * *

As they neared the village Kakashi could feel a weight lift off of his shoulders; they had taken much longer to return then it had taken the first time - Naruto's crutches and Inari's age prevented them from even travelling at a brisk pace. The entire situation was made worse by brooding atmosphere of the group. Only Sakura seemed unaffected, smiling lightly as she had when they had left. Although if the copy-nin were honest he was pretty sure the girl was merely putting the act on to try to dispel the awkward silence that surrounded the group.

Her actions were to no avail however, and the group eventually found themselves at the front of the imposing Konoha gates with the same silence that had accompanied them on the way back. As they neared Kakashi noticed the ever-present partnership of Kotetsu and Izumo doing gate-duty. The two smiled as he neared, his arrival a constant for the two. When they caught site of the groups' dishevelled appearance however, their happy expressions became notably strained.

Naruto's crutches in particular made the two wince, "Someone's gonna get chewed out Kakashi!" It was Kotetsu who spoke, clearly taking delight in the fact that Kakashi had managed to get Naruto badly chewed out. Izumo sighed and whacked his partner on the back of his head for his stupidity before turning to smile at Kakashi.

"Team Seven returning from a mission abroad." Kakashi's calm voice didn't reflect his inner turmoil, _"He's right. I'm so screwed." _He glared balefully at Naruto out of the corner of his eye. If that blasted boy hadn't gotten injured he wouldn't be walking to his doom. Stupid child.

"Ah, yes the Wave mission? Your papers clear out." Izumo spoke calmly as the group handed over their information. "Welcome back." Kakashi didn't bother to reply and instead grabbed his papers back before gesturing for the team to follow him into the village.

As they walked into the imposing gates Inari gasped, "It's huge!" Sakura giggled at the boy's shock while Sasuke smirked knowingly; Konoha was quite a sight for anyone who hadn't seen it before.

"It was mostly made by one person, you know?" Naruto announced and at Inari's confused look continued, "The first Hokage, Senju Hashirama, had the ability to manipulate wood. Most of what you see today was created by him upon the birth of the village." Inari looked at him in awe as he spoke and Naruto didn't blame him; to make such a massive village all alone _was _impressive. The knowledge put into perspective just how incredibly skilled the man had been.

As they walked a few of the civilians surrounding the area openly gaped at Naruto's injured appearance while others sneered in disgust. Sakura and Sasuke, having never seen the way Naruto was treated, were visibly shocked by the loathing sent the boy's way. To them it was ridiculous to see the son of the Hokage so mistreated. Kakashi didn't seem to notice but rubbed his forehead in consternation and for anyone who was friends with the man this was the equivalent of him glaring back at them. Inari, being the child he was, was completely oblivious to the looks. It didn't help that he was also still taking in the sights of the huge village.

Before they knew it the group found themselves at the entrance to the Hokage Tower. Entering quietly, they trudged up the stairs while Kakashi himself prepared to explain the whole ordeal they had gone through.

As they reached the office Kakashi turned and smiled lightly at Inari, "Hey kid, do you mind waiting out here for a sec? We have to debrief." The boy looked at him hesitantly, clearly scared of his new surroundings.

"H-Hai." Nevertheless, the boy agreed and quickly found a seat on one of the nearby couches. Kakashi grinned at him in response before turning back to the room they were about to enter. Opening the door softly, the group was greeted by the sight of Minato and an academy teacher, Umino Iruka, working diligently through a pile of paperwork on their desk.

"Team Seven returning from a mission to Nami no Kuni." Kakashi drawled out to announced their presence. Iruka looked up in surprise as he spoke and smiled at the sight of of his previous students; Sakura and Sasuke. The Hokage merely grunted something in affirmation and he continued to write on a particular piece of paper. It was then that Iruka noticed Naruto's appearance and Inari himself. His eyes widened slightly and he looked at Minato from the corner of his eye, waiting for the man to finish. The blond-haired man finally looked up and smiled.

"Great! So how-" He stopped as he took in the sight of Naruto and the group before his eyes narrowed and he looked at Kakashi, "Explain." Everyone in the room internally winced at his tone. The man had left nothing to the imagination; he was _pissed_.

Kakashi, to his credit, took it in stride and began talk. He first explained how they had come upon the Demon Brothers and the decision to proceed with the mission regardless of the new danger. He broke down their first fight exactly, even including his capture. After that he continued the recount by explaining what had happened up until the final fight. It was when he began to talk about the encounter on the bridge that he became visibly distressed.

"-I was still engaged with Zabuza when I felt it."

"It?" Minato's confusion was obvious.

"Naruto's _abilities _had surfaced and so, fearing the worst, I moved to deal with Zabuza as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the man's partner, Haku, jumped in front of the killing blow and so I was forced into a prolonged fight with Zabuza. I eventually defeated him but at the cost of most of my chakra and so I fell unconscious from exhaustion." He paused here and let the words sink in before continuing, "Now, from what I've been told by my team they returned to the house only to find our client dead at the doorstep." Minato inwardly winced at that, it wouldn't have been a pretty sight for greenhorn genin like Sasuke and Sakura.

Kakashi meanwhile began to sweat, _"And here comes the hard part." _Steeling himself, he began to speak, "Naruto then ordered Sakura to care for Sasuke and myself in the house while he left to pursue the murderers."

"Oh?" It was an amused sound but the man's face showed anything _but _amusement.

"From what I've gathered, he found their base of operations. They had the killed the woman, Tsunami, and held Inari hostage. Deciding to act on the issue, Naruto broke into the building and fought his way out of the place with the boy in tow." There was no visible reaction from the Hokage but Kakashi could feel the dark killing intent pinpointing on him, "He returned with the boy having sustained several lacerations and slight fractures in both legs from overuse of chakra. Gato's forces sustained loses numbering around two to three hundred - due mainly to the collapse of the building caused by Naruto's escape." The genins eyes widened at this; they had never heard about the losses Gato had incurred.

"Kakashi, I expect you to give a detailed report on the state of Nami no Kuni to ANBU; they'll be assigned a mission shortly to _deal _with this Gato man. If he dares to cross Konoha he'll reap the consequences - that, I'll make sure of."

The jounin nodded solemnly, "Hai, Hokage-sama."

As he replied, Minato's focus suddenly changed from Kakashi to Naruto, "So, you decided to not only abandon injured comrades - including your commanding officer - but also recklessly endanger yourself for a fool's errand? Is that about right?"

"Inari isn't a fool-" Naruto tried to talk back.

"I said; is that about right?" At this the rest of the occupants of the room watched the confrontation silently with wide-eyes. The intimidating presence of the angry Hokage was suffocating to say the least.

Naruto sucked up whatever he had intended to say and simply ground out, "Hai, Hokage-sama."

"You're lucky I don't put you on probation right now for such a stupid endeavor. And what's more, you don't seem to regret it!"

"I was doing what you've always taugh-" Naruto tried to bite out a reply.

"Remember your place genin." The whole room dropped several degrees as he spoke, "I will not have insolence from one of _my _shinobi." For Sasuke and Sakura this was terrifying; they had never experienced the man in such a light. The Yondaime had always been seen as a kind and benevolent ruler, for him to be so cold was a shock to their system. Kakashi knew better however; it was simply the man's only way to show he cared.

The boy looked down at the floor, burning holes in the wood with his eyes, "Sorry." It was obvious he wasn't truly apologising, but it seemed to satisfy Minato and his gazed softened quickly.

"Good." He looked at the other occupants of the room, "Dismissed. Kakashi, send that boy in when you leave." The three other members of Team Seven slowly shuffled out and sent Naruto a pitying glance as the boy merely stood in his spot silently. The room was quiet for a moment as they left until a small boy of around eight entered and stared fearfully at the Hokage.

"So, you must be Inari?" Minato asked pleasantly. The boy didn't manage to speak, only nodding as a reply, "Well, I've heard about what happened and let me assure you, this Gato man will not go unpunished." Inari's shoulders visibly sagged in relief as he spoke. "Now, I understand you are currently in a difficult situation so I would like to ask if there is anything Konoha could do? Perhaps we could find someone to look after your well-being?"

The boy swallowed fearfully before speaking, "I'd like to become a shinobi, Hokage-sama." Minato would have laughed at the boy's terrified use of the honorific if the situation weren't so serious.

Instead, he merely rose an eyebrow, "Are you sure? The life we lead is not an easy one."

"Yes! I never wanna feel weak again." The boy's quivering lips told the man enough - he didn't want to go through what he had ever again and becoming a shinobi was his solution.

"Well, the academy would be happy to have you. You've missed out on quite a lot although I'm sure with the right drive and determination you can catch up."

The boy nodded quickly, "Hai!"

"There's still the issue of your living arrangements..."

Inari grew depressed as he realised for the first time in his life he'd live without a family, "I dunno-"

"Father?" Minato whipped his head around in surpise - he hadn't expected the boy to talk to him for quite some time after that outburst. Inari meanwhile looked at the older boy in shock as he realised the connection between the two, "Would it be acceptable if he lived with us?" Naruto looked and smiled lightly at the boy, "If he would like to, of course."

Minato thought silently for a moment, _"It seems Naruto has grown attached to the boy."_ That much was obvious and having such an attachment could only have a positive effect on Naruto's psyche. He nodded in acquiescence, "If he's willing."

"Y-Yeah!" For the first time in a long time, Inari's face lit up in happiness, "Thank you!"

Naruto smiled at the boy, "Come on, I'll show you the way home."

* * *

Naruto cooled his expression into one of calm disinterest as he walked toward the academy with his charge; it was Inari's first day at the place and Naruto had offered to show him the way. It was more to ensure the boy made it there however as he knew the child was incredibly nervous about the entire experience. They walked at a sedate pace with Inari holding tightly onto Naruto's leg.

As they walked Naruto inspected the boy's new outfit. No longer was the boy dressed in obnoxious overalls; instead, he had taken to wearing full black clothing, with banages visible on his arms as a way to copy the blonde. He also mimicked Naruto's style of gloves, although his were full length and without a plate. To complete the outfit he wore some black shinobi sandals. All in all, the boy looked like the picture of a shinobi and Naruto couldn't help but smile at the change. Gone was the young, moody fishhat wearing youth of the past - in his place stood a shinobi in training.

The two soon found themselves at the academy. There were no students in sight as class had just been called so Naruto simply led the boy to the classroom he knew he was in. They walked through the halls quietly and soon found themselves in front of a room that seemed to be emanating an incredible amount of sound. Naruto rapped the door lightly and, after a pause of silence in the room, a good-natured chunin with a scar across the bridge of his nose greeted him. Naruto himself remembered the man from his past encounter in the academy and so smiled at him.

"Umino-san, I trust you've been informed about an addition to your class?" He spoke quietly to avoid the class from hearing.

The man's face perked up, "Ah, yes, yes! So this is Inari-san?" He smiled at the nervous boy, "Hello, I'm Umino Iruka and I'll be your sensei for this year. Would you like to come and take a seat?" He tried to coax the boy away from Naruto but Inari instead looked nervously at the blonde.

"Go meet your class Inari-kun." Naruto rubbed his hair affectionately and then pushed him forward. The boy stumbled for a moment before grinning weakly and walking into the room. Iruka gestured for the blonde to follow him as they walked in.

Naruto was about to explain Inari's situation when he was quickly interrupted, "Naruto-niisan! Hey!" Konohamaru's voice carried across the room from where he was sitting at the top. Naruto sighed in fake annoyance before waving half-heartedly. Iruka had no such compulsions and gave the boy a death glare for yelling out that quickly made the Sandaime's grandson retreat back to his desk.

"Anyway," Naruto spoke as he watched Inari hesitantly walk up to the stairs where Konohamaru was gesticulating wildly at an empty seat next to Udon. "He's had a pretty rough few weeks so if he retreats into his shell just tell me." Iruka nodded as he grinned at the boy's overprotective nature toward the boy - the blonde didn't even realise how much of an over-the-top brother he was sounding like.

"Sure thing. Besides, I think Konohamaru had decided the he's going to make friends with him and if that boy has a mission nothing will stop him." He rubbed the back of his head bashfully as they watched Konohamaru aggressively ask Inari questions about who he was and how he knew Naruto. The blonde smiled at the sight - yes, Inari would be fine in the academy.

* * *

Minato strode into the crowded room silently, ignoring the chat of the jounin surrounding him. He quickly took his place in between the two elders, Koharu and Homura, in the illustrious seat. Facing the crowd in front of him, he prepared himself for the discussion that was about to begin. It was _that _time of the year again; the chunin exams. This time Suna had won the bid to host the exams, citing a need to increase their commercial sector as the primary reasoning behind the large sum of money they had put forward to win it. The blonde-haired man personally thought they simply wanted to avoid Konoha being able to host it _again_, what with Kiri and Iwa refusing and Kumo hardly ever offering.

In order to work out who was participating he had called for a meeting with the jounin sensei who had teams eligible. So in front of him stood the current crop of rookies and the mix and match group of older teams. As he looked on the crowd he saw a few notable faces talking avidly; Asuma and Kurenai seemed to be giggling about something while Gai was screaming at Kakashi, ignorant of the man's lack of attention. He slowly shuffled the paper on his desk before clearing his throat. Instantly, the room went silent.

"Greetings all and thank you for your timely appearance to this meeting." A few of the jounin snickered; Kakashi had been lied to about when the meeting was to take place and as such had managed to turn up on time, "The reason I have summoned you here is simple, the Chunin Exams are approaching. They're going to be held in Suna," A barrage of whispers broke out - many had thought it was Konoha's turn to host, "And as such I would like to work out a rough number of teams willing to participate. So, if any jounin would like to start us off by putting their team forward now would be a good time."

"Yosh! My youthful team is ready for the big leap, Hokage-sama!" Unsurprisingly, Gai's voice broke the air.

A man wearing glasses spoke quietly, "I think we'll have another shot, Hokage-sama. God knows we need it." A few of the jounin chuckled as he spoke. The team involving the Yakushi boy was infamous for it's fallibility in the Chunin Exams.

"Ah, excellent. Anyone else?" Minato didn't expect any other offers; most genin teams left were rookies. There was a hesitant silence in the room as the group of jounin shuffled nervously waiting for the next person to speak.

"Maa, Team Seven is ready to participate, Hokage-sama." The room was shocked as Kakashi opened his voice. To send a rookie team to a Chunin Exam in another village was practically unheard of. The other rookie jounin-sensei looked at the masked-man nervously as Minato stared at him silently.

"Is that really appropriate Kakashi-san?" It was Koharu who spoke. Risking one of the owners of the famed Sharingan and son of the Yellow Flash for what appeared to be a flashy show of teaching ability was a tad unreasonable in the eyes of most.

"With respect Utatane-sama, two members of the team are far above the capabilities of a chunin - one, in fact, is in contention for much higher," It was obvious who he was speaking about to the group, "And the other will be safe with her teammates. They are proving to be much better than I expected and I think they're ready."

"My rival's trust in his team is admirable! Surely his youthful opinion has enough weight?" Gai rose to the man's defence and Kakashi internally high-fived the spandex wearing jounin. Trust the man to always have the copy-nin's back.

There was a tense silence as everyone waited for the Hokage to reply, "Very well, Kakashi. You _will _be held accountable for anything that happens, whether good or bad." His voice was strained and curt but the authority in it was unmistakable, "Will there be any other surprises or are we finished?" He addressed the group. No one spoke and the man smiled, "Good. Team Gai, Team One and Team Seven will be attending the upcoming Chunin Exams in Suna. All other teams have declined the offer, agreed?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama." A chorus of voices broke out.

"Good. You're dismissed!" He began to speak with a booming voice as he finished, ending the meeting without question.

* * *

Naruto walked toward the usual Team Seven meeting place on a small bridge at a leisurely pace; He wasn't exactly late yet and ignoring that fact Kakashi would still be late by at least an hour before he arrived. The speed he was moving gave him the time to think on recent events. If one thing was gained from the mission in Wave it was that he wasn't strong enough; that much was obvious. It was one thing to hold a prolonged conflict against an A-rank shinobi such as Zabuza but another matter entirely to defeat him. He knew that if it were simply himself and the sword-user he would of been destroyed. It was a harrowing and humbling experience that revealed how far away his goal of surpassing his father was.

Besides that, Inari seemed to finally be settling in. It had been two weeks since they had returned and at first the boy had walked around the house like he was terrified of breaking anything. A short exhibition match between Naruto and his father that resulted in several broken windows and countless charred trees soon dispelled that belief however, and the boy was looking slightly more comfortable in the village. He had enrolled in the academy and was doing his absolute best to catch up. From the pace he had set himself Naruto was sure he'd be able to graduate at the usual age of twelve. Mentally, the boy only seemed to draw strength from the deaths of mother and grandfather, almost using them as an example of the dangers of being weak. Instead, he was trying to live up to the expectations of his late father Kaiza.

Team Seven itself was finally growing into a team. Sasuke respected the Namikaze's strength and quickly stepped back to give the blonde leadership. He allowed Naruto free reign but also often offered advice and his voice of reason was a welcomed thing. Sakura still clung onto her 'fangirl' ways although there had been a notable improvement in her approach to training. While she had yet to work in her own time she actively put effort into the team sessions they had. Kakashi meanwhile watched all these proceedings with much delight, enjoying the sight of a cohesive team. If the masked man were honest the failure of the Wave mission and the harsh reality check brought by it bound the team together in an otherwise unprecedented way.

Naruto shook his head lightly as he approached the two objects of his thoughts. Sakura noticed his approach and smiled lightly while Sasuke merely nodded.

"Morning Naruto!" Sakura's voice pierced the air.

"Sakura," He looked over to the other boy, "Sasuke." The girl smiled at his reply while the boy grunted something in response. The three stood silently for a moment before a loud pop signified the appearance of their sensei behind them. As he smiled at them all Sakura gaped and pointed at him shakily.

"Y-You're not late!" She stared at him in shock while her teammates looked at the man with equal surprise. Who the hell was this imposter and what did he do with their sensei?

Kakashi had the decency to rub his head sheepishly, "Ano, I'm not _that _bad..." He decided not to give them a chance to contest his point and added quickly, "Besides, today is kind of important." The three looked at him in confusion and so he elaborated. "I've nominated you three for the chunin exams!"

"Chunin exams?" The pink-haired girl asked.

"A test of strength to see if you are worthy of being a chunin. You'll face off against other village's genin." The copy-nin waited for the information to sink in before continuing, "This time they're being held in Suna. You're only one of three teams from Konoha who have been nominated - You should be honoured... And thank me in some form. I accept cheques by the way." The man grinned at his joke while the three genin under his care chose instead to stare at him with a deadpanned look.

"So we have to go to Suna?" Sasuke asked carefully.

"Assuming you all accept, yes. The whole team will need to participate to be eligible though." Kakashi scratched his head light-heartedly, "But don't worry, I have confidence in all of you." At this he gave them all his usual one-eyed smile, "I'll give you until tomorrow morning to decide, we have to get everything sorted pretty quick I'm afraid. Now, I'm off - Bye!" Before the three had a chance to reply the man had disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Ano, do you think we're ready?"Sakura looked hesitantly at her two teammates.

No one replied for a moment before Naruto broke the air, "Yes, we're all very capable." Sasuke nodded in agreement as he spoke.

"Yeah, I think we'll do well." The Uchiha added quickly. Sakura smiled nervously at the two. She agreed with their assessments to a degree; the two of them _were _ready. But she wasn't sure if _she _was. The three of them began to walk into the village area silently, all of them individually contemplating the idea of the exams. As they walked a girl with blonde hair seemed to notice them and began to approach from the opposite direction. She strode up to the three of them and confidently straddled her body in front of Sasuke.

The girl seemed to favour purple as a color if the way she dressed was anything. Wearing a purple blouse and dress, the girl had her blonde locks in a high-ponytail with her fringe going over her eyes. Underneath her dress one could see bandages wrapped around her legs. Her Konoha headband was tied around her waist and she wore white elbow warmers. To finish off the outfit she had a pair of earrings and some shinobi sandals.

"Hello Sasuke-_kun_," The girl looked over to Sakura and scowled, "Forehead girl." Both girls glared at one another for a moment while Sasuke, to his credit, looked on in thinly veiled irritation.

"Ino-pig! What do you want?" Sakura huffed angrily.

"Everyone who graduated from class is getting together tomorrow for lunch. I just thought I'd invite Sasuke-_kun_ over here," She looked over to the boy huskily before returning to Sakura with a glare, "I guess you can come too." As she spoke she finally seemed to realise Naruto's presence and smirked at him, "And him, whoever he is, can _definitely_ come." As she spoke she winked suggestively at the blonde-haired boy and Naruto felt a shiver crawl up his spine. The way she was looking at him was just plain creepy.

"We'll be there!" Sakura didn't give the two boys a choice, interrupting any chance to decline. Sasuke merely sighed in resignment and shared a look with the rather annoyed Naruto.

Ino smiled at the three of them, "Great! It's at the barbeque restaurant that we always used to go to... See you soon." As she finished the sentence she directed the comment mainly toward Sasuke, although Naruto felt her eyes fall on him at one point. Just as it looked like Sakura was going to explode in anger at the girl she turned and left the three alone again.

"_We'll_ be there?" Sasuke voiced his irritation, "Whatever." Sakura had the decency to look embarassed as he spoke.

"Since you two don't know the place, meet at the usual spot and I'll lead you there, ok?" Sakura's demanding tone left no room for protest and the two merely nodded in acquiescence.

* * *

"So, I'm assuming you'll be taking the Chunin Exams?" Minato asked the boy quietly.

Naruto nodded stiffly, "I will." They were sitting at the breakfast table quietly. Inari was somewhere in the building getting ready for the academy and so Minato had taken the opportunity to talk to Naruto.

"And you think you're ready?" His father's stern voice interrupted Naruto's thoughts.

"Do you?" He shot back quickly.

Minato merely sighed, "That wasn't what I asked but yes, I do think you're ready."

"Then so do I."

The two stared at each other silently, a battle of wills occurring. Naruto eventually lost out when he looked down to his food, scowling. The Hokage grinned at his reaction; to think his son was so easily upset by an unofficial staring contest.

"These exams aren't something to be taken lightly - especially in foreign territory." Allies or not, anything could go wrong when it came to other villages, "Don't let your confidence turn into arrogance." As he spoke Naruto's scowl deepened and the boy looked like he was trying to burn a hole in his food with sheer willpower, "But I'm not worried, I trust you." Naruto looked at the man in surpised - trust wasn't something he had expected to be given from the man in front of him. He smiled weakly at his father.

"Thanks father." It was a formal reply, but the man could feel the sincerity hidden behind it.

* * *

Naruto subconsciously kicked a pebble in irritation as he leaned on the rails of the bridge; Sakura should of appeared by now and it was starting to irritate him. He only hoped she hadn't gotten cold feet for the Chunin Exams and was simply late for something. If he looked at Sasuke he would of realised the boy was going through the same emotions - if the way he kept looking at the direction the girl usually came from indicated anything. Fortunately, their fears were put to rest when the sight of pink-hair could be made out on the horizon. She walked quickly toward them and before the two knew it she was standing in front of them with a sheepish grin on her face and her hair in disarray.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to help my mom with something." She quipped. Any other team might of alleviated her worries with a simply 'no problem'. Team Seven however, was not _any other team_. Instead, she received a dismissive hand gesture from Naruto and a 'Hn' from the Uchiha child. Ignoring their cold behavior, she continued, "Well, we better get moving so we aren't late for lunch! Follow me." And with that she set off.

Naruto and Sasuke quickly moved to follow as she set off toward the village center at a blistering pace. Obviously she was trying to make up for lost time. Naruto felt himself slightly annoyed as he realised the sooner they arrived the longer he would have to spend with these complete strangers. Blast that stupid blonde girl and her insistence on him coming. The Uchiha of the group was thinking the same thing, although instead of 'strangers' he was thinking 'loud, annoying people' that he actually had the misfortune to know.

Before they knew it Sakura had stopped walking. The two boys took in the sight of the building they had stopped in front of; through the windows they could see the countless tables with barbeque food being served and from the way people were reacting it was of an extremely high-quality. Sakura herself seemed right at home in the restaurant as she practically dragged her two teammates through the entrance. As they entered the blonde girl from the day before, Ino, noticed their arrival and quickly moved to greet them.

"Hey, hey! Forehead girl! We're over here in the corner." She gesticulated wildly and pointed at a long table with five other people sitting around it, "Come sit down, we saved some seats!" She didn't bother to wait for a reply and instead turned back toward the table and took her spot. Before Naruto or Sasuke had a chance to comment the two were practically forced by Sakura over to the table.

"Hey guys!" The pink-haired girl greeted loudly as she arrived. She took up a spot opposite Ino while Sasuke sat to her right and Naruto to his right. The Uchiha found himself facing an Inuzuka clan member while Naruto was facing someone he had already met; Nara Shikamaru. The shadow-user didn't seem to notice his presence although if Naruto looked closely he thought the boy might be sleeping. As they took their places everyone replied to Sakura's greeting good-naturedly.

The Inuzuka boy looked at Naruto for a moment before obnoxiously shouting at Sakura, "Oi, oi! Who's your teammate?" The girl gasped and slapped her forehead in embarassment.

"Oh, I forgot you don't know Naruto. Guys, this is Namikaze Naruto," Shikamaru suddenly seemed to awaken and started staring at Naruto intensely while Chouji simply smiled at the blonde, "Naruto, from the top of the table to the bottom, this is Shino, Hinata, Chouji, Kiba and Shikamaru." She didn't bother to mention Ino, who he had already met, while also pointing to every person as she said their name.

As he nodded his head at them all in greeting the Hyuuga girl looked down nervously, "N-Namikaze-dono." She spoke quietly. The Inuzuka boy, Kiba, snorted at the respectful honorific and looked at Naruto oddly.

"Why's he dono and not me huh? He ain't nothing special." He said it as a joke but Hinata gasped while Shino merely sighed in what seemed to be frustration.

"Kiba, Namikaze is the name of our Hokage - one might assume there is a connection." The dog-user had the decency to look embarassed and rubbed the back of his head slowly.

Naruto sighed quickly, "Please, only Naruto. I'm not fond of _using_ my father's name." The group seemed to smile at this; to them it revealed a degree of humility. Sasuke and Sakura however frowned, they had seen how tense the father and son relationship was.

"So I heard you guys had a pretty crazy mission huh?" It was Ino who broke the silence.

Sakura answered, choosing to be the spokesperson for Team Seven, "Yeah, we went to Wave to protect a bridge-builder and everything kinda fell apart." She winced as she spoke and at the enquiring gaze continued, "Well, first we dealt with two enemy chunin which weren't that much trouble but then we encountered Zabuza Momochi; an A-rank missing-nin." Some of the members of the group gasped as she spoke, recognizing the name.

"My dad told me about him. Apparently he killed all of his academy class or something. He's crazy dangerous." Chouji spoke as he munched on some BBQ food.

"Well Kakashi-sensei fought him but got caught." People listened in keen interest, besting Sharingan no Kakashi was no small feat, "But Naruto kind of fought Zabuza until he Kakashi got freed." Now people were visibly gaping; a genin against a jounin-level shinobi? It sounded ridiculous, "When Kakashi got freed it was crazy; at the time I didn't realise but now I look back at it he was furious. He just kind of stared the guy down and then copied his jutsu. He was going to kill him but this hunter-nin appeared and killed him instead."

"What do you mean Kakashi-san was angry?" Shino, ever the one for inspecting emotions, voiced the question.

Sasuke decided to speak up, "He's always aloof and kind of smiling at some inside joke - it's like his default personality. But when he got free he went deathly quiet and his Sharingan was spinning wildly. It was like a switch went off in his head." The Uchiha remembered the sight keenly and learnt a valuable lesson from it - You don't fuck with Kakashi.

"Anyway, we found out later on that the hunter-nin was fake and Zabuza was still alive." The people around the table gasped melodramatically, "And so we ended up fighting them again. I got knocked out so I don't really know much. Sasuke?"

The boy decided to amuse her, "Kakashi-sensei fought Zabuza while me and Naruto fought the fake hunter-nin. He had this ice bloodline that was impossible to counter. Eventually I unlocked the Sharingan," He smirked at this, "But even with it he was _still _too fast for me and I ended up getting knocked out. After that, it was just Naruto and Kakashi left." The collective faces all turned to look at the blonde haired boy who shrunk under their gaze.

"After Sasuke was incapacitated I held the hunter-nin to a standstill until Kakashi-sensei was able to deal with both Zabuza and my own opponent." The group nodded in admiration, it seemed to make sense. Of course, Naruto didn't add the part about how he drew on the demon's power and was about to kill Haku himself until the boy threw himself in front of Kakashi's attack.

Shikamaru too, seemed to realise he had left something out, _"How could he hold off an opponent that had so easily defeated his teammates when it had been a three on one? He's leaving something out..." _The shadow-user cursed his damned curiosity - why couldn't he accept the boy's story and be done with it? It was so damn troublesome.

"Wow, your sensei sure is good!" It was Kiba who spoke, impressed with the tale, "Anyway, what happened next?"

"After that, Kakashi-sensei fell unconscious from chakra exhaustion. I took him over to Sasuke and Sakura and, after the two woke up, we moved back to our client's house." As he finished speaking his face darkened and Sakura, realising he would refuse to continue, gestured for everyone to look back at her.

"When we got back to the house we found our client dead." She looked down at the floor sadly and everyone patiently waited for her to gather her thoughts, "And they had taken the man's grandson, an eight year old, hostage too so Naruto made me stay and look after Sasuke and Kakashi cause they were both too injured while he ahh... Well, he-"

"Little Naru-_chan_ chased the murderers down and had a temper tantrum, killing a few hundred thugs while escaping with Inari-kun." A voice pierced the air from behind them. As they turned to look at the origin of it they came face to face with a masked shinobi holding an orange book in one hand. His other hand lay rested on Naruto's hair, ruffling it patronizingly.

"_Sensei_." Naruto ground out angrily as he knocked the man's hand around, "Get that filth out of my face." Sakura giggled lightly, it seemed the only thing that could aggravate Naruto was the blatant perverted nature that their sensei paraded around them. "Or I will get rid of it _for _you."

Kakashi looked at him distractedly, "Oh, did you say something Naruto?"

"I'm telling Hoka-" The boy didn't get a chance to finish his sentence and a metal plated glove suddenly covered his mouth.

"Yes, yes!" The man spoke fearfully, "Oh, would you look at the time! I think it's time for us to go, eh?" The man addressed the question at his team.

"Nani?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Well, I was trying to say you're late to our meeting but, well, it's _me _so I didn't think it'd be fair if I did." He looked around the group of genin, "Anyway, while I do enjoy frolicking with the youth of today," As he spoke he somehow knew a spandex wearing jounin was currently sneezing in surprise, "My own cute little genin team have to get going so... Bye!" As he spoke he shunshin'd away with Naruto in tow, his hand still covering the boy's face.

"Geez, what a slave-driver!" Kiba announced in light of his exit. Sasuke laughed out loud as the dog-nin spoke which drew a few surprised looks from the group. The Uchiha wasn't exactly known for emotional outbursts but to be fair they _had_ just suggested that Kakashi trained them _too_ hard._  
_

Sakura herself giggled before explaining, "Kakashi-sensei just needs us to tell him if we want to go to the Chunin Exams in Suna." The groups eyes boggled as she spoke.

"H-He elected y-you?" Hinata asked in surprise.

Sakura shrugged, "Yeah, why?"

"Rookie teams are not usually allowed to participate in foreign Chunin Exams due to the extra risk involved." Shino's calm voice interrupted their conversation. The pink-haired girl looked at him in confusion before shrugging again.

"Kakashi-sensei's weird like that. Anyway, let's go Sasuke - don't want to be late." The Uchiha merely snorted at her warning before dropping some money on the table for his food and briskly walking out. Sakura followed suit and moved to catch up with him. Before they got even 20 feet away from the restaurant a swirl of leaves appeared in front of them and Kakashi walked out of it, still holding Naruto and having his hand over the boy's mouth. The man finally moved his hand away and as he did so the blonde-haired boy turned around angrily.

He pointed at Kakashi angrily, "You're a fucking asshole." Sakura gasped at his language while Sasuke snorted. Kakashi meanwhile merely just shrugged his shoulder dismissively. While annoying the boy wasn't necessarily the most diplomatic way to draw emotions out of him it _was _working.

"Now, now. We have more important things to deal with anyway. Like, whether you're all willing to go to the Chunin Exams?" As he spoke he looked at them all individually and gave a sickly smile that the man probably thought reassured them all. Instead, Naruto grew more irritated with the man while Sasuke sneered back and Sakura looked at him weakly.

"It's a yes from me." The Uchiha started the proceedings.

"Yes." Naruto ground out. When he finished everyone turned to look at Sakura expectantly. The girl looked around nervously before gulping audibly.

"Yeah, I'm in." She gained some confidence as she answered and smiled at them. Kakashi, to his credit, seemed immeasurably pleased with the outcome of the conversation and gave them all beaming smiles.

"Well isn't this fantastic! Now we get to travel across the desert with... Gai's... Team..." The man suddenly recoiled in horror before pointing shakily at them all, "You've doomed me. Damn you!" He threw his hands up in despair and looked like he was going to cry before finally regaining composure, "We'll be leaving in three days time. Meet at the main gate at 9AM. Now, get out of my sight - I have to prepare myself for this... _Journey_." He shuddered as he spoke, imagining the picture of a green-spandex against the sand of the desert.

Dear god, what had he done?

* * *

Naruto found himself nearing the gate and so began to mentally prepare himself to meet the two other teams that would be accompanying them to the Chunin Exams in Suna. In particular, he readied himself to deal with this 'Gai' character that even Kakashi seemed terrified of. If he were honest the idea that the copy-nin was genuinely scared of dealing with this man intimidated Naruto immediately.

Perhaps he was a bloodthirsty maniac? Or a cold, deadened killing machine? Or an insane monster of-

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

_"What the fuck is that?" _Naruto looked at the horrifying sight in dumb wonder. It was like a train wreck - he just couldn't peel his eyes away from the carnage. A man seemed to be hugging his clone... No wait, it was a smaller, younger version of himself. The two were both wearing green spandex suits and crying dramatically to the background of what appeared to be a sunset. Naruto internally shuddered as he neared them and noticed that two others were standing off to the left, ignoring the actions of the two _freaks_. Naruto decided that they seemed the better to approach and so changed course quickly.

He snuck up near the two and realised one was a Hyuuga. The boy seemed to be sneering in disdain at the two who were hugging while the girl next to him merely looked at the sight in what appeared to be embarrassment. As he neared the girl seemed to notice his approach and smiled bashfully. She waved him over and as he walked toward her she sighed and rubbed her temple slowly.

"Sorry about the sight," She pointed at the two, "I'm sure this is scary for a first-time. I'm Tenten by the way." She smiled at him and Naruto returned the gesture, albeit much more strained, "This is Neji," She gestured to the Hyuuga, "And those two _things _are Gai-sensei and Lee. So, I'm guessing you're one of the other genin who are going to the Chunin Exams?"

Naruto nodded in reply, "Naruto. I'm in Team Seven." The girl seemed to recognize his team name if her look of fear was anything to go by.

"Whatever you do, do NOT mention your from Team Seven in front of _him_." She pointed at the man in the two people hugging.

Before Naruto could reply the object of their discussion suddenly appeared, "Yosh! Who is from Team Seven, Tenten-chan?" He waved his hands around crazily and Naruto was sure that the man should of been frothing at the mouth with the insanity he was displaying.

Naruto sighed, "I'm from Team Seven, sensei." He didn't address the man by name as he hadn't been offered that option yet.

The man grinned madly and jumped on the balls of his feet, "Ah! A member of my glorious rival's team! What an honour, my name is Gai! I'm sure Kakashi has spoken much of me to you." Before Naruto could reply the man in question appeared behind the blonde and smiled lightly.

"I see you've met the party, Naruto." The copy-nin grinned. The man's prompt arrival was ignored in favour of the scary scene occurring in front of the Namikaze.

Naruto shuddered in assent although the action went unnoticed by Gai, "A, um, pleasure to meet you Gai-sensei." As he spoke Kakashi looked at him wildly and began to step backwards in fear - That comment was a very, very bad ide-

"Yosh! Such youthful exuberance from your pupil Kakashi! I am very impressed! Naruto-kun surely burns with the flames of youth! Would you not say so Naruto-kun?" As the man addressed his question to the boy Naruto looked at him, startled at the sudden request.

"Sorry, I missed that. Did you say something, Gai-sensei?" Kakashi grinned madly as he spoke for some reason which made Naruto think he had said something wrong.

"Ah, blast you Kakashi! You have already instilled your _hip _attitude in your students. How mortifying!" As he spoke he seemed to _literally _cry in front of the boy and so Naruto knew immediately that what he had said was the worst choice of words ever. "I demand a challenge to prove my metal! You may choose, my eternal rival!"

Kakashi hummed quietly for a moment and it seemed he wasn't going to speak before he finally replied, "How about who can remain quiet for the longest?"

"Yosh! I shall take this challenge and invest all my heart into it! I shall-"

"Ano, let's begin now." Kakashi added quickly.

Silence.

Tenten looked at the masked shinobi in amazement while even Neji looked surprised. No one got Gai-sensei to be quiet. _No one_.

The group enjoyed the blissful quiet for what seemed like too short a time until both Sasuke and Sakura appeared on the horizon. As they neared Sakura waved at Naruto while Sasuke merely nodded at him. They quickly found themselves in front of the rest of the group and looked at the now silent Gai who was staring intently at Kakashi.

"Who's he?" Sakura whispered to Naruto.

Before she could reply the man turned to her and began to scream, "Yosh! I am Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey! I am-" He suddenly stopped talking and looked at Kakashi in agony, "Ah, damn you Kakashi! You win again! I demand another challenge in retribution!"

"Ah, ah ah. You know the rules; no other challenges for _at least _a day." The masked shinobi waggled his pointer finger at the man condescendingly who quickly growled in frustration before seemingly accepting the man's word.

"Ah, right again my eternal rival! As punishment for my failings I shall do 400 push-ups while we wait!" Before anyone could comment on the insanity of his work out the man had already dashed off to an empty area of the gate and begun to push himself up and down quickly.

"Yosh! I shall follow in Gai-sensei's lead and complete 400 sit-ups!" The small carbon copy of the man suddenly moved quickly to sit next to the now sweating man before beginning his own exercise.

Kakashi turned at looked at his three genin with a deadpanned look, "This is your fault." He added maliciously, pointing at the three of them.

"I'm fairly sure you elected them, Kakashi." A new voice announced. The group turned to see another genin team approaching with a jounin wearing glasses leading them, "Besides, I'm sure you can deal with Gai for at least a _few _days." The jounin spoke amusedly.

Kakashi stared at the new arrival with an emotionless look, "You don't understand." He looked around and swung his hands around melodramatically, "None of you do." He looked at the two other members of Gai's team, "Well, except for you. I just feel sorry for you." Naruto sighed at his own sensei's actions while Sakura giggled lightly as he spoke.

The other jounin, to his credit, merely smiled in reply, "Well, we're here now so isn't that all three teams?" Kakashi merely nodded in acquiescence, "Now we just wait for Hokage-sama I guess."

The genin in the area nodded while Kakashi pulled out his Icha Icha copy to read as they waited. The three teams were to be sent off by the Hokage and given his best wishes. So until he arrived they simply had to wait around. Normally, they would take the time to get to know each other but with Gai and Lee's incredibly scary performance everyone was too scared of, to put it simply, poking the bear and causing another insane person to show their colors. And with a fate-obsessed teen, a follower of Orochimaru masquerading as a genin of Konoha, a Jinchuriki and a porn crazed jounin in the group as well it was probably a good idea.

They waited for a few minutes before eventually one could make out the figure of the Hokage in the distance. Wearing his ceremonial robes, the man was flanked by his usual bodyguards - Shiranui Genma and Namiashi Raido. The two walked behind the blonde-haired man slightly, looking around for signs of threats. As they neared the older Namikaze began to smile good-naturedly at the collection of genin and jounin in front of him. Noticing his arrival, Gai and Lee quickly stopped their exercises and instead rushed over to meet him. With the nine genin and three jounin in front of him waiting patiently the man promptly cleared his throat.

"Good morning," He announced as he looked over the group, "It's my pleasure to see you all off in preparation for your trip to the Suna Chunin Exams." He paused and waited for it to sink in, seeing many of the genin smiling bashfully, "I'll be attending the final portion of it myself, assuming at least one Konoha shinobi makes it through." At this Naruto couldn't help but feel he stared at him in particular, "So make sure to do the village proud. Whether you're fighting or thinking in the exam just remember to never forgot who you are or where you come from; Ensure your will is fire and your heart is steel and be true to Konoha." He stopped talking and let the words sink in.

A chorus of voices erupted, "Hai, Hokage-sama!"

"Good," The man smiled at them all, "Safe travels and good luck!" He finished with a grin before gesturing for the group to leave. The genin turned and stared at their respective jounin expectantly. Gai was the first one into action as he shot off into the distance, his team trailing behind at a more sedate pace. Kakashi followed his lead - albeit walking, with Team Seven flanking him on either side. Finally, Kabuto's team formed the rear, walking at the same pace as Kakashi.

The three teams were soon out of the gate and as the village shrunk in the distance Naruto could still just barely make out the figure of his father still standing at the entrance, watching them leave. After this exam he'd be one step closer to his father - and a certain masked man.

* * *

**A/N: So there we go; another major canon change. I was thinking about my world and the likelihood of an attempted invasion with Minato still alive and on his home turf and I just thought it was unreasonable to think Orochimaru was that stupid. So instead I made it that Suna was trying to claw some money back through the Chunin Exams. In my mind the exams are like the Football (soccer) world cup where countries 'bid' for the right to have it in their nation - so they can have all the tourism and prestige etc. ****On another note, d****oes anyone know what the hell Gai's team number is? I couldn't find it anywhere.**

**Also, I've been thinking of starting up another story. The two main ideas I thought about was one where Naruto was trained from birth and is a jounin by the start of canon - it'd follow his role in the upper echelons of the Konoha shinobi forces during canon events (e.g. the invasion etc). He'd be a super-naruto and would destroy pretty much anyone other than S-rank.**

**The other idea is one where Naruto is an angry, bitter child by the time of canon. I'd model him along the lines of Gaara - although he wouldn't be insane, more just angry at the world. He'd also show little remorse for killing and either hate the village or simply not care about it. It'd involve a decidedly more dark Sandaime - not neccessarily 'evil', just much more willing to commit atrocities. Naruto would also have some sort of defence like Gaara, albeit more subtle.**


	9. Chunin Exams Arc: Tell Me Everything

**The Shadow Of A Flash**

_Chapter 9: Tell Me Everything_

* * *

It was a cold day, unlike the usual temperature that Konoha had experienced. With the nine genin and jounin having already traveled several days toward Suna the trees were beginning to thin out as they neared Tani no Kuni and the air was beginning to grow heavy with water molecules. It wasn't exactly freezing but neither was it pleasant. The land held a wet, cold feel to it that was uncomfortable compared to the usual warm weather the group was used to.

Naruto looked at the group surrounding him with a keen sense of curiosity. Sasuke and Sakura were flanking him on either side while Kakashi was walking behind them, giggling every now and then as he read his orange book. It wasn't his team that interested him however; it was the team in front of them. Gai and his student, Lee, were talking avidly about the value of weights and 'youth' to each other. In any other circumstance he would of shivered at the display but considering they weren't bothering anyone else he was simply thankful for the respite. The girl, Tenten, was fiddling with a kunai half-heartedly as she walked, her gazed entirely focused on the direction they were walking.

It was the Hyuuga that was most pertinent to Naruto's thoughts. He instantly recognized the boy as the child of one Hyuuga Hizashi - one of the shinobi involved in the controversial Kumo plot to steal the Byakugan. When the Kumo delegates had dared to try and take the heiress of the Hyuuga clan from under Konoha's nose Hiashi, the clan head, had responded accordingly - killing the delegate in battle. The thoroughly chastised village demanded retribution in the form of Hiashi's head. They even had the audacity to warn that war would occur if Konoha didn't give in.

Hizashi immediately offered himself in place of the man but before the plan could be put into action Naruto's father had intervened and, rather than give into the petty demands of Kumo, had taunted them. He dared them to strike out at Konoha and face the village that had emerged victorious in the Third Shinobi War. In light of having to face the Yellow Flash in battle Kumo had cowed; it was a fools errand to fight the man on his own turf. Because of this the diplomatic incident was avoided as well as no loss of life from the Hyuuga clan. Hizashi's boy, Neji, had been unbelievably grateful when he had found out and sworn, at the young age of six, to serve the blonde-haired man loyally.

The boy still held the cold indifference found in members of the clan but the usual disdain for outsiders was gone; in place was a polite, albeit distant, countenance that had apparently helped to draw even the heiress out of her shell. The boy was seen as a genius of his clan techniques and with his positive effect on Hinata's confidence was highly respected in the clan and the village itself. Naruto shivered as he thought of what the boy might have turned out like if his father had died to save Hiashi.

The other team behind them wasn't particularly interesting if the blonde were honest. He knew their names - Kabuto, Misumi and Yoroi - but found the members of the team rather boring if he were entirely honest. They were nervous and unassuming and it rubbed Naruto the wrong way; as if they weren't confident in their own skill.

As they walked Kakashi strode up next to Naruto for a moment, "Maa, Naruto?" At the boy's inquiring gazed he continued, "The likelihood is that there'll be some Iwa teams at these exams so it might be a good idea to hide your identity. Well, for as long as you can." The man rubbed the back of his head as he spoke.

"Why would he have to do that sensei?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Naruto's father has some particularly bitter enemies from Iwa - ones that would jump at the opportunity to get back at Hokage-sama by killing Naruto." Kakashi spoke seriously.

Naruto merely nodded, "I understand, I'll wear a mask." As he spoke he pulled a scroll out of the back of his bag and bit his thumb before swiping blood across it. An assortment of clothing suddenly appeared and Naruto quickly grabbed two items before sealing the stuff back into the scroll. First, he put a black, blank mask on his face but pulled it up so it sat on his hair - he didn't need to wear it yet. Next, he pulled a grey, mottled cloak around his body. The cloak was very loose and hung off his body easily. It also had a hood attached that would later allow him to pull over his blond hair. All in all, the boy looked like he was wearing a reversed ANBU outfit.

"How much do you have in that scroll?" Kakashi asked in surprise as the boy pulled out the _exact _type of clothing he needed.

Naruto merely looked at him in bemusement, "Enough." He didn't bother to explain that he had made the scroll itself and thus it had a much large capacity then usual. No one knew about his studies in Fūinjutsu - not even his father. He had originally intended to learn from Jiraiya but upon being separated from him had decided to pursue it in his own time.

After all, with his father's genius and his mother's ancestry it was in his blood to be a skilled Fūinjutsu user. He simply had to draw it out from within.

* * *

The group soon found themselves in front of the imposing gates of Suna. After a week of travelling and a few days dragging their feet through the incredibly sparse desert - huh, who would of thought a desert was so empty? - they had finally seen the glimmering lights of the distant village and a wave of relief had washed through the group. Sakura even sighed outwardly in relief - although Naruto couldn't blame her; the desert was so damn hot it was ridiculous. And it wasn't even the tempered heat of Konoha where the condensation in the air still managed to relieve the heat. No, in the Land of Wind it was hot _and _dry, a combination that left the travellers both sweaty and parched. Naruto decided he would avoid the place in the future, it was just too unpleasant.

He fumbled with his mask subconsciously, ensuring it was strapped on, and pulled the hood of the grey cloak up around his head. There was no point risking the ire of Konoha's old enemies by wearing his father's face proudly in the presence of them. To Iwa in particular, it would seem like the actions of a reckless braggart and they would take considerable offence - something Naruto wished to avoid.

When they reached the gates a pair of chunin quickly waltzed over to them. The casual air surrounding them was unreasonably irritating to Naruto and the boy suddenly realised precisely _why _the two fools, Izumo and Kotetsu, were put on guard duty in Konoha; their disarming smiles and casual appearance both irritated threatened individuals and relaxed nervous ones. The two notched up some more respect from the blonde for such underhanded genius. Regardless, the two in front of them were particularly annoying and so he internally prayed that they would simply take their papers and send them on their way.

"Ah, Konoha-nin. How _lovely_." It was the way the man said it that put the group on edge - it was quite obviously not lovely. In fact, he seemed to believe their appearance was the exact opposite. "Papers?" He asked lightly. Gai strutted forward with a brilliant smile and offered the man the desired objects. He seemed to ponder over them for a moment before continuing, "Reason for visit?"

"Yosh! We shall be indulging in the youthful process of-"

"We're here for the chunin exams." Kakashi interrupted the green man quickly. Honestly, such formalities were a waste of time anyway. They _knew _why the group was here.

The chunin nodded sagely, "Identification?" As he said this Gai, subdued by the silver-haired man, slowly handed over some more paper that Naruto realised contained their names and info. The man took them and looked at the pictures and then the individuals before giving an all too fake smile and returning the papers and identification. "Great, everything's in order. Please enjoy your stay in the village." His subtle message of, 'go away' was not missed and so the group clambered through the gates and found themselves in the village and away from the chunin guard.

Kakashi, Gai and the final other jounin instructor all suddenly converged on each other and muttered among themselves. After a few moments of quiet discussion Gai seemed to hand the other two scrolls and the two happily took hold of the offered objects. They then broke up and separated to their own respective teams. Gai dragged his team further along the road while Kakashi pulled them away from the Kabuto's team.

"Gai is going to take his team on a _leisurely _tour around Suna," The group shuddered at this, "And the others are going to a restaurant. I figured you guys would want to go to the hotel we're staying at first..." He paused and as the three of them nodded in agreement he smiled, "Great! Well, let's get going then." As he finished he turned away from the genin and began to walk in a specific direction.

Naruto was surprised at the copy-nin's comfort in the village, considering that every building had the same clay-like structure. It made working out where you were going quite difficult and so the boy realised that Kakashi must have had a mission at some point in his career that led him to Suna. One didn't have such knowledge of the layout of a location without a background in the particular area.

Sakura meanwhile, seemed irritated with the man's ability to be both aloof and rude at the same time and so had resorted to merely staring at his form as they trudged through the streets. Naruto noticed that the villagers were giving them distrustful glances as they walked and supposed it was only reasonable that they did; after all, they were in foreign lands. Surprisingly, Sasuke seemed uncomfortable with the stares. It seemed after having lived in a village that praised your clan and idealised your genius the idea of someone simply hating you for 'you' was distinctly uncomfortable to the raven-haired boy.

The three soon found themselves heading toward a three storey building. It was large in comparison to the other buildings and so it was no surprise when Kakashi turned in the direction of it. Realising it was the hotel, Naruto felt a degree of contentment knowing he was going to be experiencing a bed for the first time in over a week. They entered the building easily, ignoring the pointed looks of the villagers in the area.

"You guys wait here, I'll go find out about our rooms." Kakashi smiled as he spoke. Without waiting for a reply, the man turned toward the front-desk that was on the other side of the foyer they were in. He strode over confidently and began an animated discussion with the woman who seemed to be administering it. As he did so the three moved to the couches next to the entrance and sat down.

"Well, well. Look what we have here... A bunch of tree-huggers!" Team Seven turned to see three shinobi at the entrance. The one who spoke, a tall teen with brown hair, was sporting a malicious grin. A girl stood to the left of him, looking at the three Konoha shinobi with _pure hate _on her face. The final was a small, black-haired boy who stared at the three with disinterest. It was what was on their forehead that was most interesting however.

Two rocks were engraved on their forehead protectors; Iwa.

"Tch! Who would of thought we'd say a bunch of scum like you here." The girl spat. She looked at Sasuke in surprise before grinning maliciously, "Ooh! An Uchiha. How _risky _of them to allow you to participate. I'll enjoy showing your village the error of their ways when I carve out your eyes!" Her gaze grew furious as she spoke and Sakura shrunk into her shoulders in worry. Sasuke, to his credit, managed the usual Uchiha stoicism with a disdainful shrug._  
_

Naruto outwardly laughed at the pathetic bravado act which only seemed to spite the tall boy, "Hey, what the fuck do you think you're laughing about, mask-boy?" At this he shuffled forward and pointed at him.

"I think he's amused by your idle threat." Sasuke replied calmly. The three watched as their faces morphed into fury and Naruto almost grinned at the reaction, _almost_.

"You just remember this face - it's coming for you." the tall boy grinned as he spoke and then noticed Kakashi's approach from the distance. His silent teammate, the small one, seemed to notice too.

"Stop wasting time with them, we'll kill them in the exams." The way the boy spoke, as if he were sure of what he said, made Naruto much more uneasy than his hardheaded teammates, "Come on." He gestured at the two as he turned back toward the entrance and left quickly, avoiding Kakashi's figure. His two teammates gave a final look of hatred at the three Konoha nin before turning and leaving with him.

Kakashi walked up to the three of them, his book in his hand, and spoke in a deadpanned voice, "See, this is why I don't leave you alone."

* * *

The hotel room they were given was pretty good with all things considered; it had two bedrooms and a large bathroom. The team had been given two rooms and Kakashi had, after much deliberation, made Sasuke and Sakura go in one and himself and Naruto in the other. Sakura was, of course, overwhelmed while the Uchiha sent the jounin a withering look that explained just how much he liked the decision. Kakashi merely gave him an infuriating one-eyed crinkled smile back and shooed them away before leading the blonde of the team to their room.

And so Naruto found himself in one corner of the room looking out of the window while his sensei was sitting in the only chair with his infernal orange book in his hand. As he giggled to himself Naruto inspected the village with varying degrees of curiosity; it was impressive for such a huge settlement to be in the desert and Naruto would be lying if he said he didn't want to explore it.

A decision made, Naruto walked over to the jounin, "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hmm?" His single eye peered up from the book in boredom.

"I'd like to have a walk around the village."

Kakashi sat up and thought for a moment before replying, "Ok. Just _try _to stay out of trouble - I know it's hard for you but do your best." He looked pointedly at naruto, "And no fighting. Things are tense enough as it is between Konoha and Suna." Naruto snorted at him, insulted that the man thought to little of him.

"Of course not. I'll be back by midnight." And with that he turned away from the jounin and walked toward the door. On the way out he grabbed his cloak and mask, slipping the black thing over his face in mild irritation - it was getting uncomfortable to wear it all the time.

* * *

As he walked around the fringes of Suna Naruto _knew _something was wrong. He could feel a presence in the depths of his stomach; something dark and foreboding was writhing in his gut. He felt a pang of premonition, as if he was warning himself of what was to come. The question was, _what _caused this reaction? He knew better than to ignore it - one of the most harshly taught lessons by his father had been to always trust your instincts. That particular rule was learnt during a week-long taijutsu spat in which his father viciously brought out Naruto's body's sixth sense. Ever since the day when he had ignored the irrational wish to flinch only to end up with an uppercut in his stomach he knew that instincts were important; they could save your life.

So of course at the first sign of such a paranoia in his mind he was intensely worried. He wrapped the grey cloak around him and tightened the mask on his face to ensure there was absolutely no chance for it to fall off. Regardless, the feeling didn't leave him and so he was about to voice such concerns to Kakashi when he saw _it_. The back of a gourd could be seen in the distance. It was attached to some figure who was standing in the open expanse of the desert; seemingly ignorant of the festering winds that were blowing and the below zero temperature of a desert night.

The figure seemed to realise Naruto was watching him and so turned to look coldly at him. The blonde couldn't quite make out his figure from the distance they were at and so he was both curious and apprehensive when the boy quickly moved across the sand and back into the confines of the village. As he neared Naruto finally got a good look at him; it was a boy, no older than Naruto himself, with a large gourd on his back and a mop of red hair attached to his head. He stared at Naruto with a level of apathy that made him distinctly uncomfortable. The blonde was sure that the look he was giving him was that of a predator. He _wanted _to do something to him, something bad. The feeling grew even stronger as he neared within talking distance of the Naruto, so much so that the blonde felt himself stagger from it.

The Namikaze quickly regained his bearings but a pounding in his head prevented his full focus from returning. A particular someone wanted to talk to him. He opened the mental connection quickly.

**"To force such madness..." **Kyuubi's voice pierced Naruto's thoughts, **"Blood is his only language." **A barking laugh resounded in his head as he finished and Naruto physically flinched from the sound of it.

_"What?"_ Naruto asked mentally.

Naruto looked at the redhead but was quickly distracted again by his tenant, **"Such is the insidious nature of a raccoon; a _pest._" **Before Naruto could ask what the fox was talking about the he continued to talk, **"He shall regret such manipulation when he is forced to revel in my power. Child!"** Naruto's eyes widened as he was addressed, **"That thing you see before you is the husk that Shukaku now calls home. For what he lacks in power the Ichibi always makes up in cunning; he prefers them _broken__._" **

Naruto could _feel _the fox grinning madly in his mind and when he began to chuckle darkly it was only confirmed.

_"So, he's like me?" _Naruto wondered. When Kyuubi didn't reply he wasn't particularly surprised; the demon had only spoken to him twice since the forging of their partnership and from what the boy could tell the demon didn't care for the nuisance of a conversation. Realising he was getting nothing more from the fox, Naruto returned his attention to the object of Kyuubi's ire.

The redhead seemed to be experiencing his own personal demons - to which Naruto knew could be interpreted quite literally - if the crazed and pained look on his face was anything to go by. The boy was shaking, whether from madness or fear the blonde couldn't tell, when he suddenly stopped moving entirely. Before the blonde realised he had shunshin'd to appear directly in front of him.

"Mother asks for your blood." The insanity in his voice dripped off his tongue. Naruto himself made sure not to visibly react. Instead he merely raised an eyebrow in surpise before stepping forwards, just short of the boy's personal comfort zone.

Staring the boy down, he spoke coldly, "Be careful not to overstep your limits, Ichi." Killing intent began to gather around the two, "I am nine times your equal." Just as it seemed the civilians in the area began to notice the confrontation the oppressive air disappeared. The redhead's eyes widened in a moment of rapid fear as he interpreted Naruto's words. He stumbled backwards before clutching his head in pain.

"Your name; what is it?" The boy shot up with a crazed look in his face as he spoke.

"Namikaze Naruto. And yours Ichi?"

"Sabaku no Gaara." Naruto would of laughed at the presumptuous nickname if the situation wasn't so serious; Gaara of the desert... Such self-importance rattled his brain. "I will kill you to validate my existence, Namikaze." For a second Naruto thought the boy would do just that but before any serious conflict could occur the redhead shunshin'd away, sand spinning in the spot he had been holding.

"Well. That is _most _troubling." He muttered to himself absentmindedly.

* * *

"It feels like only yesterday when I was given my cute little genin team! And now you're all grown up," Kakashi sighed melodramatically, "Already on your first chunin exam - I'm just so proud." At this a fake tear dropped from his one eye. Sakura giggled at his display while the two boys of the team snorted in disgust.

"You're so embarrassing." Naruto muttered. And it was true, the other Konoha teams had been watched Kakashi's emotional outburst - fake as it was - with no small amount of amusement.

"Pah! You'll understand when you have kids." Sasuke rolled his eyes at that, "Now, let's catch up with the rest of your peers. We wouldn't want to be late would we." At this he gestured for them to go to the other two Konoha teams while he strode over to the two jounin who were standing a little way away from the group.

As they approached the group it was obvious that the two teams were in a very animated discussion. Well, Lee was gesticulating wildly while Neji and Tenten were visibly embarrassed by the display. Kabuto meanwhile, the object of Lee's enthusiasm, was nodding weakly in assent - probably hoping the madman would leave him alone if he just agreed.

At their approach Lee turned to them excitedly, "Yosh! My Konoha comrades!" He pointed at the three of them, "We would like to extend a most youthful offer of friendship during the upcoming trials we may face." The three stared at him blankly.

Kabuto, noticing their faces, explained, "We were wondering if you'd like you form an alliance during the exams - the three Konoha teams together." He smiled disarmingly at the three and they immediately felt comfortable around the man.

Sasuke took charge and nodded, "Yeah, we'll do that." He looked pointedly at Naruto, who shrugged, and Sakura, who smiled. Happy his decision was agreeable he didn't say any more to the teams in front of them.

"Great!"

"Yosh! Most admirable of you!"

The two replies were shot out quickly and Team Seven did their best to smile back, although it was difficult when Lee blinded you with his own pearly whites. Satisfied with proceedings, the two turned back to their teams and began talking among themselves. Naruto turned back to his own teammates and shrugged in bemusement. Fairly soon the jounin returned to the group and signaled to follow them. They trudged silently through the village, ignoring the still suspicious glares of the civilians, and soon found themselves in front of an intimidating building. It was, contrary to the usual whitish-brown colouring, completely black. As they stood in front of it Naruto craned his neck to read the sign on the front of it.

"Torture and Interrogation?" Sakura asked fearfully. Naruto didn't reply but couldn't help but agree with her; what kind of exam took you to this building? Shrugging off his nerves, they approached the entrance where the three jounin were standing.

"Well, this is where I leave you." Kakashi addressed them, "Good luck! And remember; Konoha believes in you." He grinned ear to ear at them and Naruto knew he was trying to reassure them. Sakura didn't buy it while Sasuke adopted the traditional Uchiha disdain expression. No one replied to him and so Kakashi nodded seriously at the three of them and gave them an intense stare. He seemed satisfied and walked off, away from the group. Naruto turned to his two teammates and shrugged. He beckoned for them to follow him into the building as he opened the doors.

As soon as the three of them entered they realised the sheer number of teams that were participating; the room was packed to the brim with an assortment of genin from every village one could think off. When they walked in they were subjected to the whole room glaring at them; being top-dog meant everyone hated Konoha. Regardless, it was still disconcerting to experience the hate firsthand.

"Well isn't this just brilliant." Naruto muttered to himself and dragged his teammates to a relatively empty corner. Sakura was looking around wide-eyed while Sasuke had his hands in his pants with a smirk on his face. They quickly shuffled into an empty area and began to analyse the teams in more detail. The Iwa team was off to the side and seemed to be paying particular attention to them, if the hate-filled gazes were anything to go by.

Fairly soon the other two Konoha teams approached them and surrounded Team Seven. As Naruto looked around the group he saw Gaara with a boy wearing makeup and a girl with a huge fan on her back sitting silently in the corner. Interestingly, the other Suna teams were deliberately avoiding them. It seemed Gaara was either inherently disliked _or _he'd done something to make them fear him. Perhaps both?

"Guys," He addressed the whole Konoha group and so eight faces turned to look at him questioningly, "Stay away from that redhead in the corner if you can. He's dangerous."

Sakura looked confused, "Ano, why Naruto?"

He gave her an intense stare, "He's insane and has the power to allow such madness to run wild." The way he said it was what made the group nervous; he spoke with absolute surety, as if the redhead would happily kill anyone in his path. And the truth was he probably would. He didn't bother to mention the demon as he didn't feel they'd understand and it'd also bring up questions surrounding how he knew.

Lee looked notably subdued by his comment and Neji nodded in assent, "Thanks for the warning, Namikaze." Kabuto smiled fearfully and nodded in agreement at the Hyuuga boy's comment.

"Yeah, thanks Naruto."

Before the group could talk any further a group of Suna chunin suddenly appeared out of the walls and surrounded the genin in the room. They stared coldly at the assortment of shinobi and their leader, a slim pale man, walked in the middle of the room. Seemingly unaffected by the countless shinobi surrounding him, the man grinned wickedly from ear to ear. The room had fallen silent at his and the chunins appearance.

"So many... This is going to be _fantastic_." The way he licked his lips was unnerving to even the most hardened genin, "Hello all. Welcome to the first stage of the Chunin Exams. I'm your first proctor and my name isn't important - I can assure you however, that this is going to be most pleasurable, whether for you or us I don't know." He smirked at the now incredibly worried group of genin, "Now, you're probably wondering why we're in this building... The answer is simple, you're going to be interrogated."

"W-What!" A boy from Kusa exclaimed in shock.

The man turned at the boy and shrugged his shoulders, "You heard me. The first test is going to be a trial of resolve. Can you hold out? We shall see." He whipped out a scroll and held it up to the group, "Every team will be given a scroll with vital information on it. You are to hold onto this information at all costs. One of your team will be experiencing the pain of the body, another of the mind and the final shall _watch _the whole affair."

"That's fucking insane!" It was the same boy as earlier and he looked terrified by the very idea.

"If you're scared then quit, _boy_." He looked coldly at the room, "The shinobi life is full of danger - this is something you may face in the future. Now, if you can handle it please proceed to collect your scroll from that room," He pointed at a door behind him, "If you can't then begone! Get out of my sight, weak fools." At that the man laughed darkly and turned away, heading toward the room of the scrolls._  
_

As soon as he left Sakura looked at the two boys in horror, "T-Torture?"

"This doesn't change anything, Sakura. We participate - and if you can't handle it then just quit. No point not trying." Naruto replied coldly to the girl and Sasuke nodded in agreement. The girl shivered for a moment before tightening her chest and shrugging off the nerves forcefully.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go." And with that she led the team toward the scroll room. They entered slowly and walked up to the desk with a woman behind it. As they neared the woman looked up and stared intensely at the three of them. She seemed to inspect them each for a moment before coming to a decision. She handed a scroll over to Sakura.

"You," She pointed at Sasuke, "Will experience psychological torture. You," She pointed at Naruto, "Will experience physical torture. You," She pointed at Sakura, "Will watch. Any three of you may quit at any time if you wish - simply let the chunin watching know." She gestured at a door at the back of the room, "Go through that door and a chunin will take you to your rooms. The test will be half an hour. Good luck." She smirked at the three of them unkindly and Naruto realised she definitely _didn't _want to wish them good luck.

The three read the scroll quietly, learning the information they had to protect;

_Life is the desert, life the solitude, death joins us to the great majority._

Naruto stared at it silently. It was a poetic line but quite clearly useless - it was just a means to test their ability to withhold information.

As they walked Sakura was incredibly relieved, if the way her body relaxed was anything to go by. If the blonde were honest it worked out possibly the best it could have; Sasuke had been trained from birth by his clan to handle the pressures of the mind while Naruto himself knew he could handle whatever restricted physical attacks the interrogator could manage. At least, he hoped it was restricted; they were only genin. And he'd like to think Sakura could handle watching.

They were led by the chunin through a dark corridor and into a door on the right. In the room there was two windows side-by-side that let you see into two smaller rooms with two chairs and a desk each. A small light flickered on and off in each. The chunin grinned wickedly at the two of them and gestured at the seat in the room that was situated so you could see in both rooms.

"Girl, that's your spot." He looked at Sasuke, "You're in the room on the right. A woman with black hair will be taking you." He turned to Naruto and smirked, "And you... You're _mine_." He stared at the blonde's cloak and mask, "Take that off, unless you want me to break it." The boy consented and quickly took off the offending clothing. As his blonde hair sprung into freedom and his blue eyes shone in the darkness the man gasped. "Ooh! I've never had royalty before. This is going to be so _fun_."

Sakura shivered and looked at the two boys in worry, "G-Good luck guys." Sasuke nodded stiffly, his mind having retreated into a defensive shell in preparation. Naruto himself merely snorted and nodded at the girl. He had had some light training in torture resistance by Yamato when he was younger. Essentially, you had to develop a separate personality to take the pain. It seemed Sasuke's was even more introverted than usual. Naruto found he talked back a lot - it got on the torturers nerves and caused them to make mistakes

The man stared pointedly at the group, "Well get moving." He gestured for Naruto to get in the room. Sasuke had already turned and strutted into the room quietly. The blonde followed suit and walked into the small, dingy room quickly. He took his seat - the one with straps and bindings to hold him in place - and calmly waited for the man to lock him into place.

The chunin didn't disappoint and Naruto quickly found himself bound in the chair. The door back into the room with Sakura closed and Naruto could no longer see her, a one way mirror being in the place of the window. He returned his attention to the chunin in the room who seemed to have completely changed. Gone was the malicious happiness. Instead, a cold, clinical man had taken his place.

The man walked left to right silently and stared at Naruto, "Tell me everything." Naruto stared at the man with a deadpanned expression. The man sighed, "Right, well let's get started." At that he shot forward and punched Naruto in the stomach harshly. The boy coughed and struggled to regain his breath from the hit, choking on the air. "Tell me." When Naruto didn't reply he shot forwards and repeated the earlier punch. He stepped back and stared at Naruto for a moment, "This is only going to get worse."

Naruto didn't reply and braced himself for the pain.

* * *

Sakura had gasped when Naruto had been punched viciously for the first time. It was one thing to be told your teammate was going to be physically tortured - it was another matter entirely to watch it happen. As she saw Naruto merely stare back at the man coldly she felt a sense of pride for her teammate. She quickly turned her attention to Sasuke to see how he was going.

The raven-haired youth was experiencing a vicious dressing down by a tall black haired woman. She was insulting his family, his village and his skills. The boy, to his credit, was sneering in disgust at her, not even slightly unnerved by her intimidation act. She suddenly stopped ranting and stared at the boy silently for a moment before giggling. Sakura strained her ears to hear what she said.

"You think you're strong huh? Alright, let's see you deal with this." She looked at him and grinned wickedly before flashing through a set of handseals. Sakura didn't her what she said but it seemed that she used a genjutsu if the widening of Sasuke's eyes was anything to go by. Obviously, she was showing some _uncomfortable _situations to the boy in an attempt to break his resolve. Sakura shivered at the display and returned her attention back to the blonde of the team, who was now sporting bruises across his body. She looked up at the clock.

It had been fifteen minutes.

* * *

"Tell me!" The man's voice had been building in anger. It correlated well with the rising viciousness of his strikes.

In reply Naruto laughed mirthfully, "Fuck you." Before he had a chance to prepare himself a punch connected with his nose. Blood spurted out and splattered across the room.

"You could just sit there and be quiet you know? But no, you have to be a smart-ass." He drew a kunai at this and looked at Naruto coldly, "So I'm going to cut up that pretty little face of yours. I don't _have _to; I probably shouldn't to be honest. But you've really pissed me off." He stalked toward Naruto and traced the kunai over the boy's throat slowly, "Just a flick of my wrist and you'd be dead."

In response Naruto spat in his face.

The man staggered backwards in fury. The brat was gonna _pay _for that.

* * *

Sakura had been watching silently as Naruto progressively infuriated the interrogator. It had been obvious that the man was frustrated with the restrictions on what he could do; his face had been morphing into a more and more angry expression every time Naruto refused to answer. As she watched the boy spit in the man's face Sakura was horrified; from the look of the man the blonde had pushed him over the edge. She knew Naruto couldn't have any lasting damage done to him but from the look on the man's face he didn't care.

The man jumped at Naruto and slashed the kunai across Naruto's cheek. It was shallow and wouldn't scar but it was what he did next to it that made Sakura wince. The man pulled out a small plastic packet and broke it across the cut. As flecks of white fell into the cut the man rubbed his hand across it. Naruto's face morphed into one of pure pain and he moaned slightly. Sakura quickly realised what the chunin had done; he had rubbed salt into the wound, literally.

Rehardless, Naruto quickly regained control of himself and reset his face into a stony demeanor. The chunin seemed incredibly displeased with this and so slashed his Kunai viciously across Naruto's shoulder. The wound was much deeper than the other one. Another soon followed on the other shoulder and then another across the chest. It seemed the man was getting serious.

It had been twenty-three minutes.

* * *

Sasuke watched as his team was killed in front of him, cut down viciously by Suna-nin.

They left Sakura alive and turned to him, "Tell me or she dies." Sasuke didn't reply and just stared. The pink-haired girl was quickly slashed across the throat and her eyes opened in horror, looking at Sasuke in betrayal. The boy didn't react at all to her silent plea.

Suddenly the image distorted and shimmered. Everything around them changed; the forest turned back into the interrogator's room. The woman was up in Sasuke's face staring at him coldly. She seemed annoyed that he had completely ignored her genjutsu, to the point where her previous malicious mirth was replaced by a cold, angry demeanor.

"Tell me or I'll make it _much _worse." She breathed into Sasuke's face. Her forehead was right up against his and she was staring at him straight in the eye. The Uchiha wasn't intimidated; he knew she was trying to unnerve him by invading his personal space so he wasn't going to give her the reaction she wanted. No, he had a much better idea.

Rather than wither under her gazed he shoved his head forward and their foreheads collided. The woman staggered backwards from the force of his movement. Unfortunately for her Sasuke had been wearing a forehead protector and she hadn't so she was suitably injured by the strike. A wound had opened up on her head, bleeding profusely. She stared madly at Sasuke.

"You're going to regret that!" She moved forward viciously and flashed through a set of handseals.

* * *

Sakura stared worriedly at her crush and idol as he struck the interrogator; something like that wouldn't go down lightly, he was sure to be punished accordingly. As the woman flashed through handseals the pink-haired girl only hoped Sasuke could handle what he had brought down on himself. She looked up at the clock.

It had been twenty-seven minutes.

* * *

As the man moved forward to slash Naruto across the chest for what must have been the tenth time in the day Naruto put the plan he had been preparing into action; as soon as he had been strapped into the seat he had been working on one of the leg bindings to the point where he knew he could release it. He'd have one chance to hurt the man but he was going to make sure it was worth it.

The slash across his chest hurt him momentarily - it stung due to the salt the man had put on his kunai, the sick freak - but he quickly regained his bearings and pulled his right leg out of the bindings. It shot upwards and kicked the man right where it hurt the most; the groin. The man dropped to the floor in pain and Naruto began to laugh hysterically at him. He wondered for a moment if he'd get in trouble for hurting the interrogator but shrugged; there hadn't been a rule about it.

The man stopped rolling on the floor and stood slowly. His face had morphed into pure fury and he stared at Naruto silently for a moment. The room went silent for a moment before suddenly the man lunged forward at Naruto. The forward momentum of his body pushed the chair over and so Naruto found himself knocked onto the floor. The man wasted no time and began to attack Naruto viciously; fortunately without the use of his kunai.

Naruto winced from the hits and realised he had pushed the man too far. No longer were the strikes coordinated, precise hits that maximised pain and minimised damage. Instead, the man was attacking him like he was possessed. The chunin had lost control of himself, that much was obvious. What made it even _more _obvious was when he struck Naruto so hard that an audible could be heard in the arm he hit.

Naruto screamed in pain, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuc-" Before he could finish two chunin had flung into the room and pulled the man off of him. The man suddenly seemed to realise what he had done and stared at Naruto's now broken arm in horror; he was so boned. one of the new chunin hauled the man away from the room quickly, heading toward the proctor.

The other stared at Naruto's bruised and battered form, "Apologies, Konoha-san. It seems Masato lost control of himself. Unfortunately, we are not permitted to heal your injuries - it is part of the exam to handle such problems. We can put it in a sling for you however and your team shall automatically pass as a result of Masato's foolishness." He tilted his head at Naruto for a moment, "Perhaps the kick was unnecessary?" He grinned lightly at the blonde - it took some balls to do what he did.

"It seemed funny at the time." Naruto stood slowly and cradled his arm. The chunin merely snorted at his response before gesturing for him to follow him out of the room. The blonde nodded and immediately did so. He soon found himself in the presence of Sakura who was staring at him in a mix of horror and amusement. He realised she must have watched the display through the window. Because the interrogation had ended his personality quickly shifted back to it's usual position.

"Sasuke?" He asked quickly.

She smiled softly, "He's fine - getting unstrapped now. But what about that arm!" She gesticulated wildly at his broken arm.

The Kyuubi interrupted him before he could reply, **"You are fortunate that I found your display amusing; I'll heal this injury."**

Returning his focus to Sakura, he shrugged, "It'll be healed soon enough. Don't worry." She looked skeptical but calmed down once he received the sling from the chunin examiner and put it on. With his arm resting much more comfortably in the sling he relaxed. The first portion seemed to be over and they had passed. He noticed the door to Sasuke's room open out of the corner of his eye and so turned to face the boy.

The Uchiha seemed slightly shaken up but otherwise fine. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of Naruto's bruised and cut skin and his arm before sighing.

"I didn't think they'd go _that _far." He gestured toward Naruto's sling, "That might be a bother."

Naruto shook his head, "No, I have accelerated healing. It'll be fine."

"Hn." He looked at Sakura and then at Naruto, "Well, let's go then."

* * *

The three Konoha jounin stood silently next to each other, looking at the TV in front of them. They were surrounded by all the jounin instructors who had teams in the Chunin Exams. The screen that they were all peering at was flicking through the highlights of the competition so far. It had yet to show anything from Konoha and Kakashi didn't know whether to be relieved or worried.

They were watching the amusing sight of a genin from Suna wetting himself as he was psychologically tortured when it suddenly flicked to Kakashi's team. The whole room turned and stared at the Konoha-nin while Gai looked pointedly at Kakashi. The jounin licked his lips nervously in preparation for the sight of one of his genin giving up in some humiliating way.

"Ah, this doesn't look good." Kakashi spoke off-handedly as they stared at the image of Naruto with countless cuts and bruises across his body. It seemed that he had earned the ire of his interrogator because of his heritage. The Iwa-nin in the back of the room was fortunately looking elsewhere and so Kakashi felt a sense of relief for the situation.

He returned his eyes to the screen and waited to see Naruto give up. Instead he was subjected to the sight of the man getting up in Naruto's face angrily before the boy suddenly reared his head back and spat - spat! - in the man's eyes. Several of the jounin were shocked by the display and mutterings of 'well, I didn't expect _that__' _and 'that's a new one' circulated around the room.

Gai grinned from ear to ear at the display, "Yosh! Naruto-kun had displayed the fires of youth!" Kakashi normally would sigh at such a proclamation but was too caught up in staring at the grinnign form of Naruto spitting in his chunin's face.

_"So this is the infamous asshole Naruto?" _Before Yamato died the man had spouted constantly to Kakashi about Naruto's split personality that he used in torture and interrogation training. Apparently the boy became a vicious, for the lack of a better word, _dickhead _to anyone and everyone. He could understand that evaluation now. When the screen flickered to Sasuke he grew nervous again; he didn't _think _the Uchiha would quit but you never knew.

When he watched the boy headbutt his chunin the whole room once again stared at him and he shuffled on his feet nervously, "They're, um, really good kids normally?" He announced quietly. The other Konoha jounin snorted at his comment and Kakashi couldn't blame him. From first glance, it seemed he had a team of demonic children.

Suddenly the screen flickered off for a second and the main proctor of the exam walked forwards in front of the jounin.

Everyone grew silent and the pale man grinned wickedly at them, "Ladies and gentlemen, the first phase of the Chunin Exams have completed. Now, before we go through the process of jubilation and disappointment where we find out what teams passed or not let's watch the highlight of the entire phase!" Kakashi frowned, he hated how Suna turned the exams into a sort of entertainment for their village. It was _unsavory _in some way and made him uncomfortable. He knew even now as the teams finished up there were countless TV screens in Suna with the images of the genin being displayed across them.

Regardless, he continued to watch as the man pointed at the screen and it flickered to life. The image that it showed made Kakashi groan and put his head into his hands.

"Why me?" Naruto was shown calmly sitting across from an infuriated chunin interrogator. Gai patted the jounin on the back sympathetically as the entire room once again turned to look at him. Some teams hadn't even had _one _highlight and here he was with _three_.

The man lunged toward Naruto, looking to cut the boy across the chest. As he did so however, Naruto's foot broke free from it's bindings and struck the man incredibly hard in the groin. The jounin were all subjected to the sight of the boy dropping to the floor rolling in pain while the blonde sat in his chair laughing hysterically. The man clambered back to his feet slowly before lunging at Naruto and knocking the chair over, viciously attacking the blonde with what seemed to be _very _illegal moves.

Kakashi moaned and rubbed his hands through his hair as the proctor continued to speak, "Namikaze Naruto is the first person to _break _his interrogator in three Chunin Exams so I believe congratulations are in order." The man gave a giggle and clapped quickly at Kakashi. Before anyone could join in he resumed speaking, "Now, let's move onto the second portion of the-"

Kakashi droned out the man as he looked over to the Iwa instructor who wad glaring daggers at the image of the blonde boy. It was just too much to ask the world for Naruto not to be noticed wasn't it? He rubbed his forehead in frustration; if the look of the Iwa jounin was anything his team was _definitely _being targeted now.

Damn blondes.

* * *

**A/N: The plot thickens! Neji isn't a sycophantic douche?! Naruto's learning fuinjutsu?! Gaara's first appearance and Iwa is in town?! Oh shi-**

**Yeah, so I figured that Suna would make it into a public spectacle. My inspiration comes from the Burning Chunin Exams where they had those huge TVs showing all the action. I thought it was a pretty cool idea so I incorporated it.**

**That desert quote is by Edward Young.**

**It makes me angry how many plot ideas are swirling in my head! It's so distracting when you're working on a fic only to think 'oh this would be an awesome story'. Damn ye brain. I'm thinking of making a oneshot collection of all my plot-ideas where everyone can comment on them and say whether they like them. For example, I still have that idea of a slightly insane Naruto and only today I thought of what would happen if Naruto met his father through the seal collapsing during the Mizuki incident. And I've always been fascinated by the idea of a Puppet!Naruto - it's such a beautiful branch of the series that I think is unappreciated. So yeah, don't be surprised if you see a oneshot series starting. If you think you like any of the ideas comment and I might follow through on them.**

**Apologies if there are any mistakes - I couldn't be bothered proof-reading this chapter.**


	10. Chunin Exams Arc: A Part Of Our Lives

**The Shadow Of A Flash**

_Chapter 10: A Part of Our Lives_

* * *

The three genin of Team Seven walked out of the interrogation chambers calmly, Sasuke and Naruto both wearing their respective injuries like badges of honor. As they left the chunin leading them soon showed them outside to where the other successful genin were standing. To the side of the collection of Suna genin were the sprinkled remnants of the other villages. One area in particular housed the other two Konoha genin teams; Team 9 and, if Naruto recalled correctly, Team One. They approached the group and were greeted with the sight of an incredibly happy yet undeniably battered Lee spouting about how youthful Tenten had been in her mental fortitude.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the sight of an untouched Neji; he had assumed the girl would be forced to sit out but it seemed that their team had a _real _kunoichi. Sakura had yet to show any true ability in the field aside from her astronomical booksmarts and it was starting to worry him. Perhaps the situation called for some sort of wake-up call? Hopefully these exams would be good enough.

Kabuto noticed their arrival and smiled, "Ah, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun," He stared at the two boys, instantly realising they had been put through the torture, "It's good to see you survived." At this Sasuke snorted; in his mind he had done much more than simply survive. Naruto however, narrowed his eyes in suspicion. There was something decidedly off about the boy in front of him, as if he was trying much too hard to get in their good graces. He adopted a disinterested expression in order to prevent Kabuto from noticing his suspicion.

"It is indeed pleasing to see our most youthful comrades succeed!" Lee bounded over as he spoke, "Though I must say this test was most unscrupulous; I would never subject someone to such degrading activities!" With a start Naruto realised the boy was criticizing the torture aspect of the test. He was inclined to disagree with Lee; he _did _subject people to torture, although his version included a sunset, shouts of joy and obscene amounts of hugging.

Sasuke shook off the boy's enthusiasm quickly, "So," He aimed the question at Neji in particular in the hopes of a straight answer, "Anyone know what's happening next?"

"Yosh-"

Lee's loud reply was immediately cut off, "I don't know. We'll be led to the next portion of the exams soon I assume." Neji spoke hastily in an attempt to save the group from Lee's intense proclamations. Sasuke accepted his reply with a grunt and returned to the admittedly difficult task of ignoring the spandex-wearing boy while Naruto merely resorted to studying the other teams that had passed.

In one area the Suna team with Gaara stood, a wide berth being given to them by the other teams from their village. It made sense if the blonde thought about it; the intense bloodlust and gleaming insanity that he had been subjected to upon their chance encounter couldn't possibly be restricted to that one instance. No, that type of madness was slowly built up through constant mental strain. It was clear that his village had somehow caused or at least encouraged the boy's crazed demeanor and, from the looks of it, were now paying for it. The other genin wouldn't even go _near _the redhead so obviously he had paid the village's hostility back in dividends.

On the outskirts of the group was the only other team that Naruto was concerned about; the Iwa team that they had encountered earlier. When they had previously merely stared at Team Seven with something akin to hate it was only because of _where _they were from. They hated Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto because they were Konoha-nin. In this Naruto had felt a sense of relief; while personal the three hadn't formed a vendetta to the point where they might pursue them in the hopes of some sort of payback.

Now though, with Naruto's heritage out - having sealed the cloak and mask back into his storage seals - they were looking at the blonde with both disgust and pure, unadulterated hate. No longer was it simply a prejudice borne from different birthplaces. No, now with the son of perhaps the greatest villain of Iwa in history staring them down the three were clearly infuriated beyond belief. Such unhinged fury would only result in something horrible, whether for Team Seven or the Iwa team was yet to be found out. The girl in particular glared at Naruto with such loathing that he would have taken a step back if he was a lesser being.

He turned to his two teammates, "Sasuke, Sakura," The two gave him question looks, "It seems that I've incited some attention." At this he flicked his head toward the Iwa group. Sakura shivered at the looks they were giving them while Sasuke snorted in disdain.

"What'd you do?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

"It's not what _I _did really." Naruto wrinkled his nose in distaste, "They hate me because of my father." The pink-haired girl looked at him in confusion and so he elaborated, "No one truly knows the body-count my father left behind in the Third Shinobi War - the destruction he caused was obscene - but it was enough that he earned an S-Class ranking in every foreign bingo book and a flee-on-sight order in Iwa and Kumo's." At the girl's rapidly paling features he continued, "Kakashi-sensei once said he wouldn't be surprised if _every _shinobi family in Iwa lost someone to him."

Sakura seemed aghast at this, "And they want to kill you because of _him_?" She gestured at the three shinobi. It was clear that such prejudices were entirely foreign to her.

To Naruto's surprise it wasn't him that had to answer but Sasuke, "Sakura, do you know how many Uchiha have been blamed for the actions of another clan-member? Revenge is the lifeblood of the shinobi world..." The boy sneered in disgust, "Or as the fools who pursue it call it, vengeance." He laughed darkly.

Naruto looked at the boy in anger for a moment; what would he know of revenge? The desire, nay, _need _to kill someone for justice. Not only that, but as a way for repentance for one's own involvement in another's death.. Shrugging off his dark thoughts - the masked man was beginning to materialize in his mind - Naruto looked at Sakura.

"Look, you don't need to agree with them. Just be sure you're _aware _that they might be out to get us."

Sasuke snorted again, "I'd say it's more of a matter of _when _they'll try to exact revenge rather than _if_." Naruto didn't reply to this, instead shrugging. Sakura, if possible, grew even more pale at the declaration and curled in on herself slightly in fear. Before Naruto had a chance to comment on her low self-esteem a tall Suna jounin hushed for quiet from the group of genin. Naruto quickly focused on the man in interest. He was dressed in the standard Suna attire with one half of his face covered by hanging cloth.

"Greetings," He announced coldly, "I am Baki and I'll be your proctor for the second portion of the Chunin Exams." At this he looked around the group silently, counting the numbers, "A large number. No matter, the desert will claim many of you yet." At this he gestured for the group to follow him, "Please proceed to the village gates; the second portion will be taking place in the desert." At this the man disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Team Seven didn't say a word as they followed the crowd of genin toward the gates. Sasuke and Naruto were silent as per their usual personalities while Sakura seemed to be lost in thought about the upcoming trials. They, along with the collection of genin in front of them, soon found themselves outside the imposing gates of Suna. In front of them were sand dunes as far as the eye could see with a few scarce bushes and shrubbery.

"This," Baki gestured to the wild expanse of the desert, "Is _our _training ground." He smirked at the group, "And it's also the location of your next trial. This particular exam will last five days."

"B-But what about food!?" A terrified Taki genin asked.

Baki turned and gave the genin an intense look, "If it were up to me you would be surviving purely off what you packed. Lucky for you, the esteemed council deemed it too harsh to do so. Each team will be provided with enough food and water to survive five days in sealing scrolls. No more, no less."

"So... What? We just gotta survive?" It was a Suna girl that spoke this time.

"Well, yes, that _would _be required to pass but it's not all you have to focus on during your stay..." He pulled out a black scroll and waved it in front of the group, "There are twelve of these scrolls in the desert, each in a different location and attached to a wooden poll. In order to pass you," He gestured at the group, "Need to find one for your team and then travel to the center of the permitted area within the allotted time-frame. There, you will find an entrance to an underground caving system that will lead you back here."

"Permitted area?" The Taki genin asked again in confusion.

Baki smirked, "In the desert you may find barriers of some sort warning you off from proceeding in a certain direction. I would trust them, otherwise you might find yourself lost very fast. And trust me, we won't come to your rescue."

As he spoke Naruto grimaced in thought, _"The danger of this exam lies__ more__i__n the environment than the other teams..."_ And it was true; from the sounds of things they were much more likely to fall victim to the dangers of the desert rather than by the blade of a foe.

"What about the other teams?" The Suna girl from earlier voiced her concerns again.

"Whatever happens in there," Baki pointed out to the wide expanse, "Is not my concern. Anything is permitted." He shrugged, "As long as you reach the center with a scroll in time with your _full _team intact then you'll pass." Several of the genin grimaced at this as they realised that teams might prey on each other. Team Seven pointedly ignored the hushed whispers occurring around them and instead watched the approach of the two other Konoha teams in mild interest. Baki had seemingly stopped talking for a moment to allow the knowledge to fully sink into everyone's minds.

Kabuto was the first to speak, "So, the alliance from before still up?" He grinned conspiratorially.

"Yosh-"

"Y-Yeah. It is." Tenten quickly interjected before Lee could go off on a tangent.

Sasuke looked at both Sakura and Naruto before adding, "Yeah." At this the three teams dissolved into idle chitchat between each other as they waited for the signal that the competition was going to begin.

"Alright!" Baki raised his voice to grab attention, "It's time for the third portion of the Chunin Exams to begin. Each team will be led by a Chunin to a specific position just outside the permitted area. You will be told which direction the center is in and then, on my own signal, will be released into the area. Everyone is spread out both randomly and evenly so don't even _think _about any funny business." As the group of genin all begrudingly nodded he added, "Please wait for a Chunin to take charge of your team." He looked like he had finished before he suddenly added with jokingly, "Oh! And good luck."

The three genin under the tutelage of Kakashi all silently pondered the dangers of the exam. Naruto and Sasuke were both excited by the prospect of proving themselves in the trial while Sakura herself was, if she was entirely honest, terrified by the dangers that the intimidating desert expanse held within them. To not only have to survive the hostile habitat but also the ire of the other teams was a scary thought.

Team Seven were jolted out of their thoughts when a brooding chunin walked up to the three of them and gestured angrily at them, "Follow me." He grunted in annoyance. It was obvious the man was displeased with beign given the job of what was essentially babysitting and as such remained silent throughout the long trek toward wherever Team Seven was being dropped off. Eventually, the three of them found themselves in a completely foreign area, sand dunes covering the now distant memory of Suna's huge gates.

The man raised an eyebrow at their apprehensive looks, "This is where we stop. The center is that way," He pointed in a particular direction and all three genin took particular note of where, "And on my signal you can go." He stopped talking at that and a silence filled the air.

Sakura looked at her teammates hesitantly, "Should we come up with a plan?" Sasuke nodded in assent to her question while Naruto watched the two quietly.

"It'll be difficult to keep track of where we're going in this environment." Sasuke noted mildly. "So while I would usually suggest we move away from our starting position I'm not quite sure that's a good idea."

Sakura nodded emphatically, "How about we head straight toward the center and set up there?" It was a cunning idea, to wait out teams that had a scroll at the finish line rather than searching for themselves. Naruto however, was aware of some weaknesses of it.

"Perhaps in a more agreeable location I would support that plan." Naruto began slowly, "The issue is, this desert prevents us from setting up an ambush and, with the long sight-lines, increases the chances that we might be discovered."

Sasuke grunted, "I see what you're saying but I'd rather not rely on chance and simply search for a scroll."

"How about a compromise " Sakura almost shrunk under their curious gazes as she spoke, "We could search for a scroll for the first two days and then head toward the center - even if we don't have one - and then plan from there?" Naruto hummed in thought at the idea.

"That _could _work," Sasuke began slowly, "If we find a scroll then we can head into the safety of the underground immediately..."

"And if not, we'll simply have to do our best to find a team that has one." Naruto finished for him.

"Then it's decided." Sasuke added calmly. Naruto merely nodded slowly.

"Good thinking, Sakura." Naruto gestured her way and the girl smiled under the praise. It was rare for the blonde to be so kind toward her and so she cherished the moment as much as she could. In fact, if she thought about it this was one of the few times that she felt she had actually contributed in some way to the team. It was a harrowing realisation and put into perspective how sheltered she was by her team.

The girl didn't have a chance to ponder the dark thoughts however, as the chunin near the three announced suddenly, "It's time." He stood and gestured at the center once again, "Go." The three didn't need any further prompting and stood as one, immediately shooting off into the desert with wind kicking up the sand as they dashed across the empty expanse.

* * *

It took them some time but on the second day they did happen to stumble upon a scroll. It was positioned in such an obvious way that Team Seven felt as if it were almost a trick of some sort. After numerous genjutsu dispel attempts and countless tests of the validity of the site the three did eventually stumble their way through the sand to reach the object. It was situated on top of a large wooden pole that could be seen from hundreds of meters away. It was fortunate that the sand dunes rose so quickly and so often or Naruto was sure that all the scrolls would have been quickly found. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, the Uchiha of the tesm quickly grabbed the scroll and looked it over in keen interest.

Sasuke looked to the two others, "Naruto?" The blonde blinked slowly in confusion.

"Hmm?" He queried the boy quietly.

"I'm more of a short-range fighter than you. You should hold the scroll." At this he thrust his hand out with the aforementioned object. Naruto stared at the offering silently for a moment before grabbing it quickly and, through a quick moment of intellect, sealed it into his own scroll. While Sasuke stared at the display in mild interest Sakura was looking down at her feet in shame.

When Sasuke had suggested Naruto hold the scroll it only made sense. After all, he _was _more of a short-range specialist. Naruto, being who he was, was capable of almost any type of role although he seemed to prefer mid to short range. It was the unspoken rule that had the pink-haired girl down however; Sasuke didn't even bother to mention what she was and, with a slight moment of despair, she realised she didn't _have one_. Considering the point she was at in her profession she realised she should have long since decided what branch of the shinobi arts to pursue.

Sasuke was a brilliant mold of taijutsu and ninjutsu, almost untouchable in those categories by his age group except for Naruto. He was also gifted with the natural genjutsu genius that all Uchiha's displayed and so had long since found comfort in how he wanted to fight. As he said, he preferred to be up close and personal and, if the injuries their opponents sustained was anything to go by, he was very good at it.

Naruto on the other hand seemed so far ahead of the two of them it was ridiculous. His taijutsu was strict and regimented, never using more energy than needed and always brutally efficient. He was a genius in ninjutsu of unparalleled proportions. Sasuke had heard his brother mention how the boy had almost complete mastery over wind and was soon to start his training in his second element. His genjutsu was hindered by his incredible chakra reserves but the boy seemed sufficient enough to deflect most illusions. It wasn't his raw skills that were his biggest threat however, it was the crisp, calm and collected method of fighting he portrayed that had Sakura so utterly amazed. He was, to a degree, untouchable for the younger generations.

And then that left Sakura. While she often fantasized about a budding relationship with the Uchiha she was no fool. The boy, while polite and talented, had almost no interest in her or any other girl. He was obsessed with surpassing his brother and making his family proud to the point of excluding everything else from his life. With her 'life's ambition' in tatters the girl often had to wonder _why _she ever became a shinobi. When Sakura had first joined the academy it was to do her father proud and prove to her civilian mother that she had what it took to follow in his footsteps. Somewhere along the way that was lost to the glorious pursuit of Sasuke. Because of this, her skills were severely lacking; to the point where she _knew _she didn't have what it took to keep up with her two teammates. The depressing realisation grew a pit of frustration in her stomach before she finally resolved that after the chunin exams she was going to do something about it. She was going to become a _true _shinobi.

Back to the matter at hand, Sakura looked at Naruto as he sealed the scroll into one of his own scrolls, "Why'd you do that?"

"People might assume we don't have one if they can't see it." It was Sasuke that answered her question, "And anything that discourages conflict is good in my eyes." Naruto didn't bother to reply, instead nodding in agreement. Sakura found herself quickly accepting their reasons and so nodded meekly in reply.

"So..." Naruto began slowly, "Time to go to the center?" If the two were surprised by the unusual event of him speaking out of turn they didn't show it and instead nodded in assent.

"Sure thing." Sakura replied for the two of them.

* * *

It was in the cover of darkness that the three of them finally neared the center. The desert was silent and still, the winds having dropped to nothing. With this came the mind-numbing cold that forced the three members of Team Seven to shiver and moan. Of course, with the darkness came an advantage; their movements were nigh on untraceable with their clothing blending in perfectly with the now pitch-black sand.

Naruto let a breath out of him and watched as his hot breath liquefied into a misty substance. For what felt like the hundredth time today, he pulled his clothing around him tighter in an attempt to ward off the chill of the night. He soon returned his attention to the direction they were travelling and realised in a small amount of relief that they couldn't be too far off. Regardless, he forced himself and, by proxy, Sakura and Sasuke to continue their daunting pace.

As the three of them reached the pinnacle of one of the thousands of sand dunes they had passed a small flicker of light could be seen in the distance. No one reacted at first, disbelief strewn across their faces. Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, it disappeared in a brilliant blue flash. Naruto blinked a few times in surprise; they had been out in the desert for three days now and they had yet to encounter another team.

Sakura was the one to break the silence, "Do you... Do you think that was someone else?" No one replied for a moment as they all tried to come to grips with the sight of the blue light.

"What else could it be?" Sasuke muttered darkly. Naruto didn't blame his irritated demeanor; they had traveled at a brutal pace to avoid other teams and only now, when success was in their grasp, did another group show their face.

"Should we just avoid them?" There was a moment of silence; they probably _could _but did they _want to_?

"No." Surprisingly, it was Naruto who spoke, "If it's a Konoha team we should help them."

"And if it isn't?" The Uchiha asked.

"Then we leave." Naruto paused for a moment, "And if we can't, we deal with them."

Sasuke's look of skepticism was quickly replaced by a blank expression, "If you say so..." He went silent as he finished the sentence and gestured at Naruto to lead them toward the chakra source they had seen. The blonde needed no further prompting and began to move quickly over the sand dunes, using the cover of night as camouflage. Sasuke quickly followed suit and Sakura, momentarily dazed by how fast the decision was made, moved to catch up to the two boys.

* * *

Gai was watching the screen in front of him with an intense expression on his face. Kakashi sat to the right of him, worry forcing him to watch his fellow jonin in concern. The two sat silently for a moment as they continued to peruse the image in front of them. Surrounding them were dozens of other foreign jounin and, in particular, a few Suna jounin sat idly by with what could only be described as grins on their faces. It was obvious why too; they were about to cause a Konoha team undue harm.

The TV had been set up so all jounin sensei who had participants could watch. It would often flick through numerous different fights that were occurring or about to occur and allowed every jounin to be updated on their teams progress. When Kakashi had seen Team Seven find a scroll he had been notably relieved and subject to a grinning slap on the back from Gai about the 'youthfulness' of his team. At the time he had been irritated by the other man but now he wished they could return to that. Instead, he was now being subjected to an obviously distressed Gai who was practically radiating fury.

The reasons for his anger were obvious; on the screen was his team of Lee, Neji and Tenten. They had been attacked by three Suna teams and deliberately split up from each other, the sand dunes separating the three. Without the infamous teamwork of Konoha the three had the odds stacked against them, having to fight three-on-one each. It was obvious that the Suna teams had planned this and must have met up and aimed specifically for a Konoha team. It was precisely because of this that Gai was so infuriated. The man was never one for backhanded tactics and this was the height of it.

Regardless, the man should be proud of his team; they were surviving against overwhelming odds. Lee seemed thrilled by the challenge and was knocking his three opponents around while Neji, some way off to the right of him, was keeping up with his own by playing a defensive game. It was Tenten the most in trouble however; he fighting style relied on offence and when she was forced up against three opponents it was obvious that she was struggling to survive. Gai's face had been growing more and more stricken as he watched her take scratches and cuts from her opponents. Even Lee seemed to be tiring from the never-ending assault of the Suna genin.

It was obvious that unless something changed drastically - and changed _soon _- then the three genin under Gai's care would be defeated - or worse...

* * *

Naruto growled as Sakura poked her head over the sand dune. The girl quickly took the hint and ducked back down behind the desert hill. Sasuke seemed to find amusment in the entire situation as he let out a loud snort. Ignoring him, the blonde of the team stealthily looked over the sand in front of him in an attempt see what was going on. In particular, he tried to find out _who _was on the other side.

Needless to say, when he was greeted with the sight of a bruised and battered Neji he let out a gasp. Sakura and Sasuke were both deeply perturbed by his emotional outburst and so quickly had a look for themselves. Upon seeing the member of Gai's team they too were surprised; Neji was known as a prodigy among an already talented clan - what could possibly force him to be so exhausted? The answer was obvious enough when the genin of Team Seven saw three Suna shinobi surrounding the Hyuuga; he was being outnumbere. The question was, where were Lee and Tenten?

As the battle raged on Sakura quickly muttered, "Should we, um, help him?" She was cautious when she spoke, trying to hide her voice under the sounds of the conflict near them. Sasuke didn't answer and instead turned to Naruto for an answer.

The Namikaze nodded grimly, "Yeah," He looked at Sakura, "Can you put a genjutsu on them?"

"I think so..." She frowned, "I could managed one that messed with their balance."

Naruto nodded, "Then do that. Sasuke," The Uchiha stared back at him intently, "I'm going to draw them away from Neji. When I call your name can you launch a fire jutsu at _me_?" The raven-haired youth looked appalled at the very suggestion and so Naruto quickly elaborated, "I'll be performing a substitution with this," He pulled out a kunai, "To get away."_  
_

The fire-user smirked, "It'll be done." The three stood silently for a moment and watched Neji fight desperately against his opponents. Suddenly, one of the Suna genin found an opening in his defence and seemed to be moving to take advantage of it. Sakura gasped in shock while Sasuke moved to save the boy before Naruto held his hand up to stop him. The two begrudgingly listened to the blonde and prevented themselves from lurching out of their metaphorical seats.

Naruto was soon vindicated in his decision when the Hyuuga, with reactions as quick as jonin, quickly slipped away from the Suna-nin before he stretched his hands out straight. He began to spin rapidly and chakra coalesced around his body. A huge dome of blue chakra swirled around him and knocked the three Suna genin back. As it occurred Naruto realised that the defense they were witnessing was the thing that had drawn them to the team in the first place.

"Hakkeshō Kaiten!" Neji announced tiredly as he slapped his attackers away.

At the sight of the fatigued teen Naruto beckoned toward Sakura, "Alright, now Sakura!" The girl didn't bother to reply, instead beginning to flip through the countless handseals required for her genjutsu on the three Suna-nins. Naruto didn't stick around to see her success, instead jumping over the sand dune and toward the battlefield. The last member of the team, Sasuke, moved himself to a position where he could launch his own attack.

* * *

When Neji spun for what could be his last time Gai's worry was palpable. Kakashi could feel the man's fear radiating off of his very body and he understood why; to be forced to watch one of his students fall onto his last legs was a horrifying ordeal for a jounin-sensei of Konoha. Needless to say, the copy-nin was _not _envious of his counterpart's position. For a moment he wondered where his own team was and how they were doing. Since retrieving the scroll the TV hadn't flicked to them for which Kakashi was thankful. It hopefully meant they had avoided any further trouble.

He forced his attention back to the screen and mentally prepared himself for the possibility of trying to comfort a Gai who had just witnessed the death of his student. The silver-haired man was certainly not looking forward to such a thing; the Green Beast of Konoha was already fairly inconsolable with the slightest of issues so he couldn't imagine what his reaction would be upon the event of Neji's death.

Fortunately for the two Konoha jounin, they were both saved from their fates by the sight of a new individual appearing on the screen.

Naruto had just jumped in between the three Suna genin and the Hyuuga - and from the looks of things he was _not _happy.

* * *

The first strike was successful; Naruto hit one of the male Suna genin in the stomach and he quickly collapsed to the floor from pain. The second, a kick branching out to his left, was blocked hastily by the much more alert female of the team. For a single moment Naruto locked eyes with the girl and saw the terror spiking in her purple orbs. It was obvious that the three Suna genin hadn't planned to have to fight on equal grounds and now, at the first sight of danger, were struck by a horrifying paralysis.

The blonde used the pause in the fight to his advantage and jumped backwards from the girl, his leg recovering from the strike quickly. As soon as he was able he moved toward the girl again and this time aimed a punch toward her face. The purple-eyed girl lifted her hands in defense. Unfortunately for her it was at this precise moment that Sakura's genjutsu was enacted. Rather than block the punch, her hands instead were placed in an entirely different area to block an attack that only she could see, her vision distorted by the illusion forced on her.

A crack could be heard as Naruto's fist collided with her face and blood spurted out rapidly from her nose. She reeled backwards in fright and collapsed meters away from the Namikaze. Before the previous boy had a chance to gather himself Naruto threw him toward the girl and they collided together, creating a heaps of flailing limbs. Seeing the opportunity for what it was, the blonde turned to the final member of the Suna genin team, hoping to launch him toward his own teammates. He soon saw the boy staring grimly back at him from a few metres away.

Without a moment of hesitation the two sprung toward each other and clashed. As they fought they traded blows and a deadlock seemed to be forming. Naruto noticed the boy was aiming to hit him toward his own teammeates so, recognizing the fact that he _wanted _to be surrounded in order for Sasuke's fire jutsu to be a success, allowed himself to be struck in the chest. He flew backwards from the strike into the grasp of the two other fully recovered genin. The girl looked at him with a vicious kind of anger, her nose clearly broken from his earlier punch.

They moved toward him as one, kunai drawn and licking lips in anticipation of the kill. Rather than being daunted by the prospect of his impending death, Naruto smirked at them before suddenly looking toward the sand dunes that he had first come from.

"Now!" He screamed. Before the three could react Naruto replaced himself with the kunai next to Sakura, his chakra homing into the signal of the weapon easily. As he landed he shook his head to dismiss the usual disorientation that came from pulling off such a fast kawirimi.

Sasuke meanwhile had jumped at the sound of his voice and flashed through handseals rapidly, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" His mouth opened and the Konoha-nin were greeted with the sight of a fully formed fireball being launched toward the now visibly terrified group of Suna genin. It struck the area they were standing quickly, with almost no time for them to escape. As the smoke left the area the Uchiha could see one of the bodies mangled and burned beyond recognition.

It was only after the girl and the second boy reappeared angrily next to the charred body that the Uchiha realised who he had struck with his jutsu. For a single deadly moment Sasuke shivered; he had committed his first kill. He realised with a start that he had actually _ended _the life of another human being. While it saddened him it also elicited an excited shiver. The boy didn't know which was worse; the fact that he felt _bad _for the victim or that he somehow took _joy _from it. He shook his head to dismiss such thoughts. It wasn't the time for such brooding.

Before he could spring back into action he was greeted by the sight of an infuriated Naruto flashing past him with great speed. The boy quickly blocked a kunai that had been heading towar the unaware Uchiha of the team and then slid forward into the range of the other boy in the Suna team. A quick fist struck out and slammed into the boy's nose. He flinched from the hit and fell to the floor in a heap, disoriented from Naruto's vicious strike.

The blonde took the momentarily lull in the battle to turn and comment angrily at Sasuke, "This isn't the time, Uchiha! Wake up!" The raven-haired boy didn't know whether it was the Namikaze's rare angry tone or the fact that he addressed him by his clan name but he suddenly found himself paying attention to the fight again, all thoughts of the boy he had killed leaving his mind.

His eyes returned to the battlefield just in time to see Naruto charging toward one of the remaining Suna genin was a furious expression on his face. Whether it was brought on from the battle itself or Sasuke's momentarily lull in concentration didn't matter, the Uchiha flung himself toward the blonde to support him. Naruto slipped him a grateful expression as he noticed the action and then put his full focus on the person he was moving toward - the other male of the Suna team.

As the blonde moved toward his target Sasuke blocked a kunai that had been flung near the two Konoha nin. He traced it's trajectory and found himself face to face with the grief-stricken eyes of the female of the Suna team. She stared at her failed attack numbly for a moment before seemingly realising just _who _had blocked it. Her expression suddenly morphed into a furious, smoldering gaze.

"You were the one who killed him!" She glared daggers at the Uchiha, "You fucking-" She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as something struck her from behind. For a single moment her eyes widened in horror and blood spurted out of her mouth. She stumbled for a second before suddenly collapsing to the floor, her form no longer moving. Sasuke was greeted with the sight of a grim-faced Hyuuga Neji standing behind the Suna genin, his hand contorted out in the classic Hyuuga taijutsu style.

Before Sasuke had a chance to contemplate the girl's life Neji announced slowly, "She's dead." He was shaking slightly but it was obvious that he was regaining control of his emotions, "I struck her in the heart. No one can live from such a blow." He turned to look directly at Sasuke, "Come on. We should help Naruto." That was all the raven-haired boy needed to hear before he suddenly turned, heading toward the direction that he had seen Naruto barreling off into.

Their intervention wasn't needed as, in the end, the two clan-children we greeted with the sight of a silent Naruto standing over the body of his opponent. Blood coated his right hand and as it dripped onto the sand Sasuke realised the Suna genin had a gaping hole where his heart should have been. A temptation to throw up struck his body and he retched slightly. Neji had more control then him and simply turned away from the distasteful sight.

"The girl - she's dead?" Naruto asked slowly as he noticed their arrival.

"Yeah," Sasuke answered numbly, "Where's Sakura?" Their pink-haired teammate was nowhere in sight.

Naruto raised his head as he spoke and before he could answer Sakura poked her head over a nearby sand dune, hesitantly waving at the three of them. She quickly approached the small group and, much like Sasuke, held her hand over her mouth as soon as she saw the bloody remains of Naruto's opponent. She looked to be turning to run but before she could Naruto grabbed her with his clean hand.

"Don't turn away," He spoke softly, "This is a part of our life - your life - now, and you'll have to get used to it." The blonde hesitated for a moment before adding, "Your genjutsu was the reason I was able to land the blow. You are as responsible for his death as I am." It was a harsh reality that the Namikaze struck her with and the girl looked like she was about to protest but before she could he added, "Accept it. It's better you do it now, then on a mission when we won't be here to help you stand back up."

And it was true, Sasuke realised; they all needed to come to grips with the idea of killing. They all needed to attain that acceptance that while killing isn't something they should desire, it's something they should anticipate - something they should understand. They all needed to be more like the blonde boy in front of them.

But as the Uchiha stared at the grim-faced Namikaze in front of him, blood seeping through his clothes and a disturbing disinterest about the actions he had just committed, he wondered; was it worth it? Was killing their heart and being like Naruto all a shinobi had left in their life? He found himself without an answer.

Neji interrupted the grim silence, "My teammates still need help." He spoke quickly, as if he had just realised that their lives were in danger, "We should move now."

Surprisingly it was Sakura who answered him, a shaky smile on her face, "Y-Yeah. Let's go."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the delay.**

**I've never really seen much development into Sasuke's ideology surrounding being a shinobi. After all, by the time canon rolls around he's too emotionally scarred to care about killing. Fortunately, in this story his brother hasn't fucked his whole life up so I thought I'd have a gander at his character. I've always seen Sasuke as an example of a kind soul corrupted by darkness and so, much like his brother, gave him a sort of pacifistic nature. **

**We also get to see the darkness in Naruto's heart - however justified it is. Sasuke bears witness to the blonde's broken humanity while Sakura is, well, attacked by it. But it doesn't matter, that silly girl needs a good slap to the face to wake up anyway.**

**Enjoy.**


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